Black War!
by TuxedoMask2011
Summary: Part 7 of my Sailor Moon saga. The day of reckoning has come! The Black Moon has arrived to destroy Crystal Tokyo and take the planet for themselves. It will take everything that Neo-Queen Serenity and the Sailor team have to battle against their powerful forces. The sailors have beaten the Black Moon once before but can they do it again?
1. Prologue

Prologue

Thousands of years ago, before the age of recorded history, the greatest battle in the universe was waged, and it was the final marker in a war that the greatest heroes of this time period were destined to lose. Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, which served as the governing body for what would later be called the Milky Way galaxy, sacrificed her life to give the souls of her recently deceased daughter, the protectors of her realm and the rest of her kingdom's population a second chance at defeating the evil that had come in the form of Queen Metalia and her Dark Kingdom followers. Using the Silver Crystal, her most powerful magical item, Queen Serenity was able to seal the evil Queen and her armies away where they could do no further harm to anyone but at the cost of her life. Moments before her death, she sent the spirits of her loved ones and subjects to be reborn at some point in the future on the neighboring blue planet known as Earth.

In the beginning, the members of the Sailor Soldiers, the former protectors of the Moon Kingdom, had no idea who they really were when they were each reborn to human parents in city of Tokyo, Japan. With the help of the guardian cats Luna and Artemis, who were also sent by Queen Serenity to guide them should the need for the sailor warriors ever be needed again, Sailor Venus, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter were each reawakened one at a time.

Along with their mysterious ally, the masked hero known as Tuxedo Mask, the Sailor Soldiers began to battle against the various evildoers that plagued their city. When a new warrior appeared and saved Sailor Moon from a powerful monster, the sailors gained another new ally in their struggle to keep peace on Earth in the hero known as Carnage. Under the tutelage of Carnage, the five Sailor Soldiers learned how to further harness their individual sailor powers and learn new strategies on how to use them in tandem with each other which would prove invaluable in their future battles against the Doom Tree and later on, Gaap, the Prince of Demons.. As their enemies continued to grow in power and viciousness, the stronger members of the Outer Planet sailors; Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor Pluto arrived to act as reinforcements to even the playing field when it came time to face them.

As time wore on, a pure and sacred love developed between Carnage and Sailor Jupiter. The power of this love would come to rival that of the love between Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Both were examples of the deepest love that a human heart could feel, and it bolstered not only their own individual powers, but had the residual power to enhance all of the other Sailor Soldiers' powers together as a group.

Once again, the Dark Kingdom attempted to rise to power under a new leader named Apachite. He intended to success where the previous leaders, Queen Metalia and Queen Beryl had failed. He managed to infiltrate and corrupt the Illuminati Council that Carnage had once been an active part of and acted as the first and last line of defence against the Earth's enemies. However, Apachite was secretly working on corrupting the entire world. It was this overall tremendous act of evil that triggered the end of the known world. Even with the added strength of their strike team's assault on Apachite's base in Canada, the power of love and justice was not enough. Unbeknown to the Sailor Soldiers, the evil Apachite had managed to set off over 12,000 nuclear missiles that had already been successfully launched as his ultimate trump card. Unfortunately, none of the missiles could be stopped in time before they hit their targets. In a last act of desperation, Sailor Moon used her Silver Moon Crystal, the evolved form of the Silver Moon crystal that was once yielded by her mother thousands of years ago, to save the people of the world from the destruction that was about to occur. The Silver Moon crystal encircled the world and formed a hard crystal shell that encased each member of the Earth's population along with each member of the Sailor Soldiers and Carnage to protect them from the radiation and environmental effects of the global nuclear fallout. The Earth itself was completely devastated and fell into a deep state of hibernation as it healed itself.

Nearly one thousand years later, the crystal cocoon holding Sailor Moon opened up, releasing her. Using the Silver Moon crystal that had returned to her just before she had been put into suspended animation, she magically willed all of the other cocoons to open up and release the people inside them. During all that time, the climatic scars and environmental infection left by the missiles had long since gone away and a new Earth had grown from its ashes like the mythological Phoenix of old. When the people of Earth began to re-inhabit it, the sailors found that a large mountain of natural clear quartz crystal had grown in the exact center of where the old city of Tokyo had been. The sailors immediately knew this was to be the Crystal Palace which was prophesized to be the center piece of the new city of Crystal Tokyo.

A calming joy began to settle over the world, because the sight of the Crystal Palace and the establishment of Crystal Tokyo was the signal that the Crystal Millennium had begun. Sailor Moon became Neo-Queen Serenity and Tuxedo Mask became King Endymion and her husband. They assumed the reins of power and became the new rulers of this time of global peace. They did what was necessary to keep the people of Earth safe, with the help of the Sailor Soldiers and Carnage resuming their roles as guardians of Earth. Although this was a time of peace and love, evil continued to manifest everywhere and anyway it could. The modern evils of drug addicts, gang members, and the sort may have been greatly reduced by the white queen of Earth and the Silver Moon Crystal but they were still an issue to contend with. Although the weapons and tools had changed, the darkness that remained in humanity would never truly be eliminated.

The first major battle in this new world was when a magician by the name of Aldrich Reid appeared with the intention of destroying Crystal Tokyo. Using the magical skills he had acquired from various demons including the sailors' old enemy, Gaap, he stole all the humanity from the warrior known as Carnage, leaving him an empty husk for his alien symbiote to completely take over his body with its own brand of insanity and evil. This new version of Carnage tore through Crystal Tokyo like a murderous cyclone bent on death and destruction, leaving nothing but mayhem and chaos in his wake.

As all hope was about to be lost, Sailor Jupiter's love for her husband ended up saving him and the unborn child that was growing inside her. The product of that love turned out to be a little girl whom they would name Tera. Aldrich Reid was exiled to the Dark Moon, the tenth planet and furthest away from the Sun. Carnage took the new name Hybrid to show that he was different now and to not be associated with the numerous crimes that he had committed while under Aldrich Reid's influence. As part of his penance, he was ordered to attend regular cleansings from the Silver Moon Crystal along with Sailor Jupiter and Tera to ensure that the evil of the Carnage symbiote would never be unleashed again. The king and queen dubbed him as the official Guardian of Earth, and gifted him with the magical sword, the Sword of Gaia that King Endyimon had once used over ten millennia earlier in his original identity of Prince Endyimon during the reign of the Moon Kingdom. When Tera reached the age of fourteen, she requested and was granted the powers of a sailor warrior, following in her mother's footsteps and taking over her father's title as the first ever official guardian of Earth, Sailor Earth.

Three centuries passed, and the soldiers of love and justice began to grow lax as new responsibilities and duties took over each of their lives. Each of the Sailor Scouts developed their own agenda in a world that didn't need heroes right now. Sailor Mars founded the new Hikawa Shrine and began to pass on everything she'd learned from her grandfather about spirituality and guidance to the citizens of Crystal Tokyo. Sailor Mercury threw herself completely into various scientific and medical fields and was a significant factor in the vast advancements in both medical and technological marvels that helped shape the society that now dominated the Earth. Sailor Venus ran the network of recreation centers around the city of Crystal Tokyo where the general public could engage in both physical and social events. These were also the places where the next generation of Sailor Soldiers could be trained to act as a precautionary measure just in case the forces of evil ever chose to rise again.

Princess Chibiusa, the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon became the new Sailor Moon, taking over her mother's former identity. Also like her mother, she had her own group of guardians known as the Sailor Quartet. Sailor Jupiter and Hybrid's daughter, Tera, joined them as well. Tera had inherited the powers of a sailor warrior from her mother, but she had also been gifted or cursed with a symbiote from her father. When she can to realize that fact on her sixteenth birthday, it scared her nearly to death to find out that she had this other aspect to her living within her.

So even though the Earth had been nearly restored fully and was clear of the societal evils such as crime and war for the most part under Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion, t, not everything was perfectly good. It was true that education was open to everyone and the average life span had increased from eighty years to nearly a thousand thanks to the magic of the Silver Moon Crystal. This created a kind of utopian world that existed for the people saved from the nuclear holocaust of the past and the future generations born afterwards.

However, the few people that still carried an evil influence were located and captured so that they could be brought before Neo-Queen Serenity to be cleansed of their malevolent tendencies before re-entering society. Unbeknownst to all of them, a threat was building, a threat by the name of Norman Osborn. He and his team of super-powered humans formulated an attack on Crystal Tokyo by first capturing the only threats that could stand against them; Hybrid and the original Sailor Soldiers.

With their mentors and parents in gone and presumably in grave danger, the next generation of sailors, led by Sailor Moon mounted a rescue mission to bring them back. In the confusion of their infiltration inside Norman Osborn's corporate headquarters, Sailor Moon was seriously hurt and presumed dead. Her friends thought she'd been lost to them as she had disappeared down an elevator shaft with a scream. After they had managed to retreat to the outskirts of the old city of New York, they became trapped in their own prison of grief and sorrow at their ultimate failure until their princess found and returned back to them after escaping Norman's fortress on her own. Meanwhile, the original Sailor Soldiers found themselves in a tight spot of their own as Norman kept them trapped in giant glass tubes as if they were his own personal science experiments. Even more frightening was that the insane corporate leader had managed to use his expertise in chemistry to turn Hybrid against his family and his friends by temporarily bringing out his evil alter ego, Carnage. Ironically enough, it was his own daughter that had to face him as the original Sailors were still trapped in their glass prisons and the young sailors had been taken out of commission temporarily by a surprise attack from Norman's lieutenant, Doctor Octopus. In the end, love and strength won out over insanity and brutality as Tera was able to weaken him enough to be able to save her father.

Not long after the defeat of Norman Osborn, the Sailors had to face yet another crisis that would rock each of them to their very souls, in particularly Sailor Uranus and Hybrid. In an icy battle with a mysterious blue ninja, Sailor Uranus had to deal with the immense emotional pain after she had just watched her lover supposedly die before her very eyes in a battle with two more mysterious ninjas as part of a sadistic tournament designed by the evil sorcerer, Shang Tsung. The grief that she felt turned into raw anger and it gave her new strength. She drew on her love for Sailor Neptune to give her the power and will to wield her personal weapon, the Space Sword with enough precision to dispatch her enemy, the blue ninja known as Sub-Zero, which had become the object for her rage. Later on when she returned back to the Crystal Palace and in front of Neo-Queen Serenity and the other sailors, Sailor Uranus came face to face with the blue ninja's lover, a woman by the name of Tanya. Sailor Uranus with the Space Sword still in her hand, plunged it deep into the woman's chest. Everyone who witnessed the act was immediately shocked that she would blatantly break the sacred law decreed by the white queen of the Earth by killing an unarmed woman. Sensing their intense and questioning stares, Sailor Uranus kicked the woman's lifeless arm away from her body to show a hidden bladed weapon underneath it. The sudden understanding of what had really happened flooded across each of her friends and team mates. Sailor Uranus soon finds out afterwards that Sailor Neptune isn't dead after all and is filled with a sense of intense relief.

The evil and dangerous tournament that Sailors Uranus and Neptune had taken part in was the idea of the malevolent sorcerer, Shang Tsung with the prize for the victor being a young woman by the name of Iris. The young blonde haired woman was actually Hybrid's long lost sister who had been kidnapped by Shang Tsung and held in the demon dimension, Negonall for over a decade according to the passage of time in the alternate universe.

With the Sailors barely winning the tournament, Shang Tsung grabs Iris and takes her back to Negonall where he knows Neo-Queen Serenity's influence cannot reach. Hybrid, Sailor Earth and a few of the other sailors who didn't participate in the tournament give chase with the help of the guardian of time and space, Sailor Pluto. They manage to track Shang Tsung to a large tower and are confronted by Shang's elite guards, a small band of monstrous humanoid creatures. The sailors paired off against the monsters, leaving Hybrid to enter the tower and continue to track down both Iris and Shang Tsung. Although a few of them would suffer various injuries; some minor and some very serious, when all was said and done, good triumphed once again and the creatures were dispatched.

When he locates them both in a large spherical room, Hybrid enters into an agreement with the sorcerer to battle to the death with the winner getting Iris' body and soul. During the ensuing battle, the sorcerer transforms himself several times into some of Hybrid's friends and family to distract him and leave him open for a surprise attack. When he turns into Hybrid's mother, it seems like victory is all but assured for the crafty magician when Hybrid's hidden guilt for failing to find and rescue his sister for so many years nearly paralyzes him. Off to the side and chained to the wall, Iris is forced to witness the physical and emotional damage that is being wreaked upon Hybrid, and she mentally tells herself that she has to do something before she loses the only family member that she has left.

Using the magical skills that she had learned during her time in Negonall she manages to free herself and with the help of a rusty decorative sword that she sees hanging on a nearby wall, she uses her powers to make mystical flames dance along the blade before she plunges it into the back of the evil sorcerer, almost killing him instantly. Hybrid, recovered from Shang Tsung illusion being broken and the sight of his sister coming to his aid, finishes the sorcerer off with organic weapons created by his symbiote.

The magical power that Iris possessed and her actions to save Hybrid gave her the confidence and desire to create a new identity called Magik. Neo-Queen Serenity asked her to join her brother and his friends and family as a Guardian of the Earth and the Crystal Kingdom to which Iris graciously accepted. The queen had a new sword commissioned for her, and Iris managed to get a battle uniform that she felt her new title and role deserved. Once again a happy ending ensues, but what will our heroes face next?


	2. Lurking Shadows

Chapter 1 – Lurking Shadows

It was near midnight, in a darkened laboratory, somewhere in the territory that was once known as Europe. None of the scientists that usually occupied this workroom had stayed late to work on any of the existing projects currently in progress, and no security guards patrolled the dark and interconnecting corridors outside it.

Towards the middle of the laboratory was a large open space that was dominated by a giant mechanical centrifuge. There were other various machines whirring and beeping into the dimly lit emptiness of the room, but the large machine that was its centerpiece lay dormant, waiting quietly to be given new test samples to spin around when the scientists returned in a few hours .

The barometer in the corner of the room, located on the glass of one of the exterior windows began to register some sudden changes as visible currents of vapour seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The new air streams shimmered like the sun's rays reflecting off of a piece of glass. Once the waves of air disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared, a small group of people were left standing among the expensive lab equipment. Each of them were dressed in what seemed to be some kind of military issued uniform that consisted entirely of black neoprene bodysuits. Across their bodies, they wore several grey belts that had various pockets and pouches, every single one of them containing an item that they might need to almost any obstacle that they might encounter on their missions. As they broke from their tight circle that they had appeared in the laboratory in, the way they moved showed that they had some sort of military training to back up their appearances. To an outside observer, they would think that whatever their plan had been once they gained entry into this secured facility had been thought out very carefully and been practiced many times until they could move as a single collective unit.

Each member of the team scanned their designated section of the lab, making sure that there were no interruptions from any unexpected guests or late night workers burning the 'midnight oil' to keep their research progressing., before they did anything else. As each section was cleared, the member of the team responsible would raise their left arm and keep it up so that the other members could see the confirmation that it was safe to proceed.

One member of the team stood out from the rest of the individuals because they had a little golden arm band around the sleeve of their suit's upper arm. This marked them as the designated leader. From their physical build and body posture, they were of the male gender. In the dimly lit room provided by the soft glow of light from the machines still on and the night vision googles that each of the team members wore, the leader looked around at his squad, checking for raised arms in each section to make sure that they could continue their mission. Seeing the last arm go up, he raised his own hand into the air. This was the signal to move forward to the next phase of the plan. Each member of the group began to move forward in teams of two

Each pair drew closer to the giant centrifuge, maintaining the same amount of distance between themselves and the machine as every pairing, and keeping the teams to their left and right in clear view. Once each duo was in position, they reached into a small pouch attached to the belt that ran diagonally across their chests. One by one, they pulled out what looked like a fist-sized mechanical spider. They were metallic and had several long thin wires that protruded out from the spherical main body of the device, gaining it the appearance of an arachnid. The large body of the 'spiders' had different coloured buttons and lights. A few seconds later, each person pressed the red button located in the device's center to make the one set of wires extend, then the yellow button made another set of wires contract, and finally an orange button that caused a little blinking red light to wink into a rhythmic sequence.

Each person passed the message down the line with a simple arm signal to inform the others that their device was on and successfully activated. The overall collection of message found its way back to the leader. When the final member let him know that his gadget was armed, he raised his arm and aimed the gauntlet of his right hand towards the centrifuge. He reached out with his left hand and pushed a green button on it that seemed to become instantly in sync with the blinking red lights of the little 'spiders', because the green light quickly changed to glow red as well.

Wave lengths of light began to become refracted again, and the shimmering currents of air vapour re-appeared but near the ceiling of the laboratory this time. The leader of the group smiled underneath his black mask as he watched his troops and the centrifuge start to fade from sight. A few seconds later, he too disappeared and everything was back to just as it had been only a few minutes earlier, with the noticeable exception of the largest of the lab machines being gone. Everything that had just occurred had been done in the deadliest of silences and had gone off without a hitch The scientists who were set to return at dawn to resume their work and research would get a very rude awakening when they showed up to work in a matter of hours.

A few hours went later, darkness and silence still shrouded the laboratory facility. Just like before, seemingly out of nowhere, the shimmering currents of air returned, but this time in a completely different research workroom than the one visited earlier in the night. There was a large biohazard sticker on the sliding glass door of the room, and a warning label advising anyone who entered to put on a radiation suit located in the outer area before accessing the inner chamber of the laboratory. Out of the air currents and shimmering haze emerged a figure. Her physical stature immediately identified her as a woman. She had been a member of the earlier strike team but she wasn't wearing her military uniform, and she wasn't under the direction of the group's leader. She was dressed in civilian clothing which consisted of a pair of dress slacks, black shoes with a small wedge and a dark green buttoned blouse. She moved quickly to one of the nearby dresses and picked up the white lab jacket that was draped over the back of the chair. She quickly put it on and found that it fit her nicely. It was getting close to the time when the chance of employees of the facility may start arriving. By appearing to be one of their own and not drawing unnecessary attention to herself, she could move freely until she completed her objective and leave this building with her prize intact.

She turned her head and read the warning label about the use of a radiation suit before entering into the inner area of the laboratory and scoffed in distain. She wasn't like the idiot scientists that worked here and was going to open the canisters of potentially hazardous chemicals that were stacked in the cold storage room. She reached into the pocket of the white jacket and was relieved to find an access card inside it. She took it out and scanned it across the identification reader that secured the entry into the inner chamber where her target was held. With a satisfying electronic chirp, the tiny red light on the card reader flashed green as it was quickly followed by the sounds of the door's tumblers rolling around as it unlocked itself. She reached out and pull the handle of the door, sliding it open and walking inside. The door closed behind her, sealing her within.

She let her eyes adjust to the new lighting within the room before taking a step. She may not have any respect for the people that work here but she was smart enough to regard the power of the materials that currently surrounded her. When her eyes had finished adjusting, she took her time and strolled along the rows of shelves, reading each label carefully before moving on to the next one. She chuckled under her breath because in a way, what she was doing was just like shopping.

She came to a stop in front of one thick metal canister whose warning label made her smile with delight. She carefully reached out and lifted it off the shelf before putting it down on a small table that the facility employees used to retrieve specimen samples without having to remove the entire cache from the safety of the inner chamber. She reached in the breast pocket of her blouse and put another one of the little 'spiders' devices on the side of the canister. This device was a smaller version of the ones used earlier to steal the centrifuge. Once the little gizmo was blinking happily away, she rolled up her sleeve on her right hand to reveal a high-tech gauntlet that was similar to the one the leader of the earlier team had wielded. She pushed a button on it and the unnatural air currents shimmered into existence once again, transporting both the woman and her prize out of the laboratory.

Not more than five minutes later, the woman and her prize were safely back in her apartment. She smiled as she picked it up gingerly and carefully walked into her bedroom with it. She knew that no one would be here with her because she lived alone and did not have friends that had the tendency to stop by unannounced, especially at this time of day. However for some reason, she was getting the feeling that someone was watching her right now. She put the canister down on the desk next to her bed and turned around in a slow circle, singing a few notes in a language that had long since been forgotten. Sparks of bright purple light began to chase each other in the shape of a rectangle against the back wall of her walk-in closet. Once the light beams had grown bright enough, there was a small explosion with a loud pop and the rectangle that the light sparks had created, pulled out from the back wall of her closet. The protruding section revealed itself to be a metal safe a second later. She approached the safe that opened up as she drew nearer to it and put the canister inside. She carefully closed the door and locked it away before pushing the chunk of wall back into where it had come from. She sang out a few more notes and watched as the miniature purple sunbeams re-appeared to mold the wall back into one seamless piece of white plaster. She rearranged some of her clothes in front of it to further camouflage it before heading downstairs into the kitchen.

A smile lit up her face as she made herself some tea. This was her personal back-up plan. She had been pushed aside by the leader of today's excursion in favour of someone who was less qualified and skilled than her. They had shared several months of heat and intimate passion, but she had only been using him to further her own agenda. Although he was the leader for a reason, she was confident that this newest harebrained idea of his was destined to fail. She wasn't going to go down with him when it did. She was sure that he must have been thinking the same thing, and so he had decided to demote her, predicting that he would have his pick of women once his scheme worked out for him and she would crash and burn into disgrace. She wasn't exactly upset about it, she just didn't like being set aside in favour of inferior lackeys. It was a pride issue, simple as that.

She was a creature more powerful than the rest of his little lackeys and she was determined to prove it to the world. She grinned as she thought about their measly little skills. It was true that they had military precision and access to some very advanced technology but she was something else entirely. She was a necromancer of a very rare sort. Not only could she raise the dead, but she could also lay dead spirits to eternal rest as well. So far, the only training that she'd had had was from a stack of detailed journals that had been secretly passed down from generation to generation in her family. It was a small stack of about six books that were handwritten journals from the few members in her family that had been born with the talents that she now possessed, and unfortunately they spanned a few centuries with long periods of emptiness in-between gaps of time.

It was difficult for her to do a lot of studying because she had to keep it a secret. The books were written in several different languages, and some of the handwriting was simply atrocious, but she was slowly making her way through them. The magic she now possessed went beyond the workings of the dead. She was becoming a master in magical areas that exceeded beyond those of her ancestors. That was how she had managed to get the safe in her closet to materialize and disappear in her closet. When she worked at honing her skills with the dead magic, she had a learned to use a panpipe that could create seven different vocal tones that told the spirits under her command, what to do. When she did any other sort of magic, she simply whistled or sang a few notes that bent the elements that she wanted to her will.

She knew that she would have to be at the presentation ceremony with the rest of her team soon to present the centrifuge as a part of her ex's plan to their master. She glanced at the clock next to her and silently swore, she had to hurry or she would be late. Sometimes it really annoyed her that she had to keep up appearances when she had her own plans to work on. The canister that she had secretly stolen was going to help her concoct the best plan that her boss had ever seen. When it succeeded, she would be given a higher position in the master's army or perhaps an even grander title. She would love to have a faction of her own soldiers to order around so that she would have more free time to work on honing her magical skills and maybe even take over the entire operation by dethroning the master someday.

She was a jealous creature, and she gave credence to that old expression about scorned women. The fact that her ex had beaten her to the boss with his idea for the centrifuge robbery really burned her to no end. She had to get a grip on herself and find one of her fancier dresses to wear to this pointless ceremony. She stalked back upstairs to her bedroom and flipped through her clothes so quickly that some of them wound up on the floor from the kinetic force that she used to slide them from one end of the rack to the other. She finally chose one piece of clothing and changed into a slinky midnight blue dress that had a slit in one side that ran all the way up to her waist. She sang a few more notes and watched in the full length mirror attached to the adjacent wall as her long waves of mahogany hair flew around her head and wove over each other until she had an elaborate hairstyle that did her natural curves of her head justice. She walked over to her vanity desk and quickly touched up her makeup. The last thing she did before slipping on her shoes was attach the thigh holster for her panpipes on her right thigh. She never could tell when she would need it and honestly, she felt naked without it on her person at all times.

When she arrived at the location, she stopped in the entrance as her eyes panned around the interior. The antechamber where the celebration was to take place was decorated in her ex's favorite colors of black and silver. It almost made her gag and it took everything within her to resist the gesture. Everything he owned was one of those two colors or some sort of mix of both. His incessant attention to detail had and continued to drive her crazy. When it came to stupid little things like silverware for example, he actually had them in size order in his drawer. When it came to a major undertaking however, like his recent plan to help the boss achieve his goals by stealing the centrifuge, he was completely the opposite and more often than not, his plans ended up having more holes than a sieve. She wasn't really interested in his flamboyance that either distracted people from realizing that major flaw in his tactician skills or hid it completely. The only reason this ceremony was happening at all was so he could show the boss that part of his overall plan had actually been completed. In reality, they hadn't even made it to the end of stage one yet, as they were still gathering the items that they needed, but he was one of those people that had to celebrate every tiny little victory.

She put on a fake smile so she wouldn't look like she had a secret agenda, and walked into the room to begin making her rounds and start mingling with the other people in attendance. She had made sure that she was put on this team at any cost when it was first conceived because if she had a front row vantage point to their missions, then she would also have an opportunity to sabotage it if it would benefit her.

The more she thought about it the reasons for this celebration, the more it made her blood boil. She had to give herself a mental shake before she could hitch her fake smile back into place because she was a woman who wore her emotions on her sleeve. It simply would not do if she gave her true feelings away this early when she still had some much more left to accomplish. Off to her left, she saw a group of men from the earlier mission hanging out together in the corner, and she made her way through the crowd over towards them. She was the only girl on their team, so she preened under the appreciative glances that they were giving her as she approached them, and strutted over with a wide smile on her face. It would be so easy to play this game and men were simple to manipulative with the right tools and as a woman, she had everything she needed already. She couldn't help but think that she might even be able to rope one or two of these guys into her future plans and make them do her dirty work. It was always nice to have a patsy on hand in case things went south. Feminine wiles were not to be taken lightly but if used correctly, they would prove very useful.


	3. A Troubling Pattern

Chapter 2 – A Troubling Pattern

Late morning sunlight that was coming in through a window lightly reflected off of Sailor Mercury's dark blue hair as she sat in her private office in the Crystal Tokyo General Hospital. This office was her favorite out of all the others that she had scattered around the city. Every wall around her was covered with floor to ceiling bookshelves that were crammed full of various scientific books and extensive medical dictionaries. She never allowed any dust particles to land on her books for very long as she was constantly pulling books out to read or do research for patient treatments. During the rare occasions where she had five minutes to herself, she would dust off her precious books not currently in use before she got back to her pile of work for the day that always seemed to be never ending.

She was sitting at her large mahogany desk, staring into the light of the small desk lamp that she had sitting in front of her. She was taking a break and letting her mind drift off into a daydreaming state and for once it in her extremely busy life that her lifestyle had become, she was thinking about things that most normal women would think about instead of medical procedures or scientific advancements that she hadn't finished dreaming up yet. No, today Sailor Mercury was thinking about how wonderful it would be to go on a second honeymoon with her husband, John. As her mind continued to play on that sweet sounding thought, she'd worried at first about getting a babysitter for their little daughter, Madison before she laughed out loud at herself. She knew that any of the other Sailor Soldiers would almost or maybe literally jump at the opportunity and they may even have to end up drawing straws to see who would get the job.

Feeling her body getting stiff from sitting in the desk chair for almost three hours straight, she got to her feet and started slowly pacing around the office. She did this often when she had something in her head that just wouldn't come up with a solution to itself on its own but now she was doing it just to stretch her legs. Underneath her, there were worn circles in the plush, red carpet that covered the entire floor of the office, from where she'd worn it down from previous circuits around the room. As she continued to think about her sweet fantasy of a romantic vacation with John, she began to think about the next thing on her pile of papers that was waiting for her when she sat back down at the desk. She had such a wonderful analytic brain that she could work on more than one issue in her head at a time. As walked past the desk, she would pause every so often and jot down some notes in a hardcover journal that was always open and ready to receive her wise information as it entered her brain.

Sailor Mercury paused at the large window and took a moment to look out at the world outside. She had an office that almost mirrored this one in the major scientific facility down in the southern district of the city. The view from the window here at the hospital was much more phenomenal as there were further building to block the view and she could see the rolling green fields and snow-capped mountains that dotted the far horizon. Her office overlooked a topiary garden that was just across the street, and when she was feeling a little sad or depressed because of a dilemma that was proving more difficult to get solved, she would stand at the window and stare down at the gardens, letting the natural beauty of them relax her and give her time to refocus. They always seemed to be able to calm her soul and give her fresh energy to continue working on whatever problem currently occupied her time.

The view from the office in the scientific facility on the other hand, only faced the factories that spewed out a thick white smoke, and she usually had the shades drawn so she wouldn't see such a disheartening scene while she worked. She knew that factories were releasing pure water vapour and producing clean energy but the sight of the smoke stacks still brought her back to the time before the Great Sleep when factories spewed far more toxic chemicals into the air.

She had to giggle to herself again as she realized that she definitely got more work done in her office in the scientific facility because she had absolutely no distractions other than the calls or knocks on her door from people needing either her attention or assistance. That being said, she still loved and preferred this office in the hospital more despite the reduction in her work productivity. She sighed heavily as she took one last look at the gardens before turning around to sit back down again at her desk. As she settled down into her chair, she silently vowed to herself that she wasn't going to get up again until she'd made another large dent in the pile of papers sitting in the right corner of her desk that had built up over the last few days since she had last been here. She glared over at it like it was a monster from Negonall that had come to be her personal demon. She had never been to hell-ish dimension but she had heard enough stories from the Sailor Quartet and Sailor Venus that she felt like she had been. She sighed again before reaching out and sliding the top sheet off the pile down in front of her so that she could read it.

When it came to the administrative side of things, Sailor Mercury often turned back into a stubborn teenager. She hated this kind of paperwork more than anything else. She would much rather be in one of her many laboratories, conducting a scientific experiment or making her rounds at one of the hospitals , visiting patients and helping them feel better. However, she was the chief medical officer for Crystal Tokyo and by extension, the Crystal Kingdom as well as a major technological powerhouse that seemed to dominate her time. Sometimes she was amazed that she had even found the time to have a relationship with John, much less have and raise a daughter with him. She was grateful for his patience with her and was the reasons she had been thinking about getting away with him to show her appreciation.

The nature of her two competing careers made it necessary some days where she had to actually lock herself in her office and hide the key from herself in order to get the accumulated paperwork that needed to get done so it wouldn't stack up like this and potentially hold up any of the people that worked with or for her. Sailor Mercury was far from being a procrastinator, but when it came to the administrative side of jobs, she would seemingly just conveniently "forget" that it had to be done before the pile grew as tall as she was. Although she had hired several people to do this job for her, there was still a significant pile each day that needed her personal attention, such as a mystery illness that the doctors couldn't cure and she would need to read up on the known or attempted treatments in the past that had failed before she attempted to find a new way. On the other side of the coin were the forms and documents that needed her personal signature, such as an approval to build a new wing to the hospital or whether or not to pull the feeding tube on a patient that was declared be brain dead. Those decisions were especially hard on her, because she wanted to save everyone, but knew that she couldn't. When something like that happened, she would leave the hospital in tears and rush home to her husband and daughter for comfort as he was her 'rock'.

She'd began to sway along to the soft jazz music that came from a small radio that sat nestled into the corner of her desk just as she had been for the last hour or so before getting up to walk around as she resumed the process of going through the paperwork one page at a time, organizing them in piles marked as either being complete or needing some more input or research before she could sign off on it. The completed pile was steadily growing and it was soon noticeably larger than the one that was labelled as needing more information. That bolstered her confidence that she might be able to get out of here in time to spend almost the entire evening with her family. There were some nights that she never left the office because there was simply too much work to do and some of it was time sensitive. On days like that, she would pull out a small cot that was folded up inside the closet next to her desk with a blanket and pillow resting on the top shelf, ready to sleep on. She smiled as she let her mind enjoy the thought of snuggling up to John in her bed instead of the stiff makeshift bed when the phone rang, cutting through the music and her focus. She paused for a second, letting it ring one more time before reaching for it without lifting her eyes from the page that she was currently perusing.

"Hello? This is Sailor Mercury. Can I help you?" She propped the phone between her ear and her shoulder so that she could sign the document in front of her and add it to her completed stack with a small smile.

"Yes, ma'am. This is John Cumberbatch." The tone of voice was neutral. It was neither bursting with anticipation to share with her some wonderful news from one of laboratories under her jurisdiction nor was it brimming with regret at having to tell her that some accident had occurred or some experiment had gone out of control. Sailor Mercury immediately recognized the name thou. John was the chief scientific supervisor for the Europa territory of the Crystal Kingdom. He was in charge of a lot of important research and experiments that were being conducted under her direct orders. He was as high as anyone could get in this field because he reported directly to her. Sailor Mercury had a chief scientist in every territory of the Crystal Kingdom who reported directly to her, because she was the be all and end all for the scientific experiments that happened on Earth since she was the only one with a direct line to Neo-Queen Serenity who was the ultimate voice about anything that occurred within the Crystal Kingdom. Her chief scientists usually checked in with her once a month where they would share all of the current progress on the projects that were currently under their supervision.

"Oh, well hello, John. I didn't think I would be hearing from you again so soon. I thought we'd agreed to talk in another week or so." It wasn't necessarily that Sailor Mercury _didn't_ want to talk to the man, it was just that an early call usually meant that something bad had happened and they needed Sailor Mercury's guidance on how to fix it and/or start over. Those were the days when it almost felt like she'd lost one of her own children. Granted, she knew that her daughter, Madison was safe and sound at home with John, but it still had a very emotional pain that panged through her at the explanation of a failed experiment that had shown such high promise in theory.

"I'm very sorry to call you and break our usual formalities but we have a very serious situation at one of our scientific facilities that requires your immediate input and attention." Sailor Mercury immediately perked up and focused entirely on John's voice. She didn't like being in situations like this but she knew that this was something that only she could take care of given her job titles. As she began to formulate ideas for what John could possibly be calling about, she dropped her pen to the desk surface as she completely forgot about the paperwork that was still sitting in front of her. The desk itself even seemed to disappear along with the rest of the office as her mind shifted into its analytic mode. All that existed at the moment now was the phone that she held in a death grip, right up to her ear.

"There was another robbery, wasn't there?" Sailor Mercury guessed, recalling her memory of a string of recent robberies across the Kingdom where non-specific laboratories would be empty at night but when the scientists that worked there showed up in the morning the next day at their normal time, large equipment or materials would be missing. So far, nothing had ever shown up on the security camera video footage to help them out in their investigations as to who could be behind them. It was almost like someone had frozen the screen during the robbery, then let it play again after they were gone with their stolen goods. From the tone of voice that John was using as he spoke to her, she already knew that whatever "situation" he was calling her about was large, and probably involved a large piece of laboratory equipment if she had to guess.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. A company in the Germanic region reported that a large centrifuge has gone missing. They can't understand how because the thing was bolted to the floor and weighed almost a ton. It was supposed to have round the clock surveillance, but they've already interviewed the guard that was to be on duty the night it disappeared, and he openly admitted that he went to the break room to listen to sports on his radio instead of watching the centrifuge. Rest assured that he is being disciplined accordingly for that infraction but that is a moot point right now.

The scientists employed at that facility were expressly told that the centrifuge was _not_ to leave that particular workroom for any circumstances so it is highly unlikely that it simply misplaced in another laboratory. There were no drag marks or tire tracks, or anything else that would indicate how someone could have moved it. As I already stated, it would have taken a lot of mechanical power just to get that thing up off the floor, much less out of the facility. It's a complete mystery, and even though the police have been called to come investigate with a team of forensic scientists; there is absolutely nothing at the moment that can tell us how it was taken or where. Also on a side note, one of the canisters of liquid nitrogen was reported missing. Again, we have no idea how and are currently investigating that theft as well."

While she was listening to John talk, Sailor Mercury reached into the top drawer of her desk and took out a small notebook which she flipped open to the first page. She glanced over the information that was on the page and was devastated to be reminded that there had been twenty industrial or scientific machine thefts over the last seven months. The thefts ranged from the western part of Americana to the Ming region and even into the southern regions of Afrika and Mestizo. She had every location, date, time, and what was stolen catalogued so she would be able to devote any of her spare time to figuring out what all the missing parts could possibly be used for. She began to write today's entry in the book that John had just reported to her. She let a frustrated sigh escape her lips. This problem had just jumped up to the top of her list of current priorities, and she didn't like it in the slightest. It made her sick to her stomach to know that such powerful machines that were meant to help so many people in different ways were disappearing at an alarmingly rate and more than likely, being used by evil people for things that they were never meant to do.

"I understand. I will bring this to the attention of Neo-Queen Serenity and the other guardians immediately. An investigation of our own will be launched just as soon as we can all get together. In the meantime, I want you to see to it that any other facility with sensitive research or materials are equipped with the new anti-theft technology that we developed last year, including the Germanic one that was just robbed. I'm afraid that the thieves may come back and if they do, we must be ready. They've never stolen two things from the same facility before, but who is to say that they may not come back for more at some point." Sailor Mercury's voice sounded grim as her words sunk within her.

"If I may interrupt you for a moment, ma'am. The Germanic facility already _had_ those anti-theft and anti-intrusion measures in place and they have already been proven to have been operating at peak efficiency during the time of the burglary. Somehow, the thieves managed to bypass them completely and not leave us a single clue on how they did it or even who they are. That was why I called you immediately, Madam Mercury. I wanted to stress just how dire this situation really is. I don't know how we can stop these invisible thieves or at the very least, prevent future burglaries from occurring." Sailor Mercury could hear the desperation in John's rise as he spoke. She couldn't blame him for being concerned and troubled by this crime spree.

She pursed her lips both in anger and frustration. The investigation by the Sailors that she'd just promised John was not the first one that had taken place. Each disappearing piece of equipment or material had had an investigation of sorts at some level of authority. The Sailors had conducted their own probes after the tenth and twentieth theft but so far all of them had turned up absolutely nothing. Sailor Mercury was getting more and more frustrated by the lack of progress that was being made, and she was almost certain that Neo-Queen Serenity was as well. They couldn't figure out where the stolen equipment was being kept, or anything about who had might have taken them in the first place. She had developed a new computer program that she had installed into the Crystal Supercomputer located in the heart of the Crystal Palace as soon as she had deemed it was ready. This program was designed to monitor the entire city, and all its outlying regions for large amounts of energy, in particular vast amounts of mechanical or electrical energy generated by clean sources such as water or wind which is what it would take to run most of the machines that had been stolen thus far. After all, why would someone steal all of those machines if they weren't going to run them? She had also placed the same program in various less powerful computers in each of the territories of the Crystal Kingdom which made up almost the entire planet. In theory, if the machines were somewhere on Earth, there shouldn't be any place where they would remain hidden for such a long time. So far, however, the supercomputer and its sub-systems had turned up nothing as well, and the corresponding investigations were still stuck at square one.

The news that her anti-theft devices had also proven ineffective was equally troubling to the brilliant sailor guardian. She had personally developed the more high tech anti-robbery devices within the last year, and had been sending them out in increasing quantities to the laboratories once they had passed the quality tests. These new apparatuses had included pressure sensitive floor pads, interior atmosphere monitors, and audio detectors. She had hoped that these new items would help them either prevent future thefts or at the very least, gather information on the perpetrators when they committed another crime. She was sure that the gadgets' design worked just fine since she'd personally tested them out herself.

"Thank you John for telling me all this. I'll be in touch with you after I meet with Neo-Queen Serenity and the others. You could really help us out if you would be so kind as to alert all of the other facilities in your jurisdiction and tell them to be on the highest security alert level that they have and to increase whatever manpower they can manage to put together. It may not be much of a deterrent to these criminals, but maybe someone will see or hear something that would help us. If we're really lucky, maybe one of the thieves could be captured." Sailor Mercury did her best to make that last part sound convincing but even she didn't believe that they would get that kind of break.

"Right away Madame. I'll make sure it's done immediately. I have a team here on standby that can help me get it done that much quicker. If I hear about any other robberies or if there are any developments on this latest one on my end, I will call you back right away. Again, I apologize for taking up so much of your precious time."

He hung up the phone before Sailor Mercury could utter a reply back. Sailor Mercury excused the lapse in politeness on John's behalf and chalked it to his eagerness to get to the tasks assigned to him by her. Sailor Mercury remained frozen in place, with the phone still up to her ear as she stared off into space as she became lost deep in thought. The annoying dial tone continued to drone on in her ear until it reached the point where it broke her out of her reverie and she finally put down the receiver back into its cradle.

She started to go through her notebook, reviewing her past notes on the robberies. She was trying to make heads or tails out of the things that had been stolen. They couldn't all work together, could they? That was one of the burning questions that she had been asking herself as the number of thefts had increased. Her mind was racing with triple the normal speed of a normal person, but she still couldn't see a connection between any of the robberies or what possible reason the stolen items could be used for, either good or bad. She knew that there had to be a pattern that she just wasn't seeing and there was no way that these were just random targets! She just had to try harder and look at it from every angle until she found it. As she finished reading the latest entry about the theft John had just called about, Sailor Mercury's eyes wandered over to the intercom. She reached out with her left hand and pressed the talk button. She waited for the momentary bout of static to clear before speaking into it with a clear and concise voice.

"Mary? Would you come in here please? The door is locked, but there's a spare key hanging from the door handle on your side that you can use to open it." A few minutes later, Sailor Mercury could hear the lock click as the door was opened and a woman knocked lightly on it before she fully entered the room. She was tall, with short blonde hair and she was young, looking to be in her early twenties but with the extended lifespans of every human on Earth now, she was probably closer to Sailor Mercury's age. It made Sailor Mercury feel old for a few seconds when she thought about how many years she had walked the Earth, both before and after the Great Sleep before she mentally shook herself and focused back on the problem at hand.

"Mary. I need you to do me a huge favor, ok? The rest of this paperwork that's on my desk needs to be taken care of and I have a much larger problem that I need to deal with right now that I simply can't concentrate on all of this. Please, can you sit down and make sure they get taken care of." Sailor Mercury had only made this request once before because even though she hated administrative work, she still took _all_ her work very seriously. The last time that she had done this, it was because her water had broken and she was about to give birth to Madison. "I'm so sorry to do this to you, but I need to speak to Neo-Queen Serenity right away about this string of robberies plaguing the Kingdom's research facilities. More and more of them keep happening and we have to get to the bottom of this." Mary smiled and nodded her head in understanding and gracefully moved to the side so that she wasn't blocking the door for Sailor Mercury. "Thank you very much" Sailor Mercury replied as she sprang up from her chair and snatched up her notebook before walking briskly from the room, leaving Mary all alone.

When Sailor Mercury disappeared from sight into the antechamber located off the main office which housed a bathroom and small closet area, Mary moved over and settled into the chair to get to work. She loved working for Sailor Mercury and she looked up to the brilliant guardian as a role model for how she wanted to live her life. She understood that there were so many important things going on in the world that the Sailor Soldiers had to deal with, and she was more than happy to try and lessen the load for Sailor Mercury as much as she could. Her heart usually broke for her boss as it seemed like Sailor Mercury had the weight of the all the world's burdens on her lithe shoulders. Recently of late she was starting to look a little more haggard than usual and it amazed her how one person could balance two demanding careers, a marriage and raising a child without going insane.

When Sailor Mercury finished collecting everything that she needed from her antechamber, she cast a quick look as she passed through the office and saw Mary going through the papers as if she was the world's expert on them. She was so glad that she had someone that she could count on as much as she did with Mary. She made a mental note to make sure she did something nice for her when this current issue was solved. Not breaking stride, she rushed out the door towards the exit with the intention of getting to the Crystal Palace immediately.


	4. Black Moon Rising

Chapter 3 – Black Moon Rising

In a dim and empty room, a young man sat on an elaborately carved, wooden throne. He was tall and thin, and his body's frame was draped in a jacket of the purest white. It was a formal-looking dress jacket, and he wore pants of the same colour to match it. In the center of his pristine jacket however, were two thick black lines that swirled together. Their appearance gave the impression that jungle vines were creeping across his chest, and that they would suddenly pull him up into the air at any given time. His shoes on his feet were so well polished that they reflected whatever limited light existed the room and sent out tiny rainbows of radiance. He could almost see himself in the shiny black leather if he ever felt the desire to look down at them.

The man had a bored expression on his face and one leg was casually crossed over the other, almost as if he were waiting for something or someone. A black and dark purple cape completed the ensemble and it was long enough to drape over the chair. This made the wooden throne look a little bit more comfortable. He was at ease in the poor light that filtered into the room from the high windows and illumination from other sources scattered around the large room. It didn't mind the dreary atmosphere and it was something that he had long gotten used to and suited him. Shadows stretched for miles, and the only splash of color other than his clothes came from the glass of red wine that he held, precariously balanced in his fingers. The wine glass hung loosely in his grip and more than once, it looked as if he would drop it at any time. The man was almost completely lost in thought, a prisoner of his own mind. The future as far as he knew it and the events that would proceed them would soon come to pass and that was what took up a lot of his thinking time as of late. He quietly raised his hand and sipped from his glass in an almost mechanical manner. He did not even bother to swirl the wine around in his glass or to sniff it with his nose for its sweet scent. The saccharine caliber and fragrance of the wine lost on him.

A soft shimmer appeared in the air, off to the left side of the man's regal-looking seat. He caught it casually out of the corner of his eye and leisurely turned his head in the general direction of the haze that had abruptly appeared. He watched with a single raised eyebrow as a tall and well-muscled man stepped out of the haze and immediately bowed his head in reverence to the seated individual. The man had a thick mane of bright red hair, and he wore an outfit that would have made him look at home on the streets of Agraba, the fictional home of the hero, Aladdin. The man on the throne had to chuckle. He _did_ look like that particular character from the old children's fairy tales that his parents had read to him as a child. The red-haired man wore a brown, sleeveless vest with a pair of green harem pants. In short, the man looked like a traditional genie from a bottle, and it wouldn't be too far off because this man would do anything that the man on the throne wished or ordered of him. He allowed himself another chuckle at the irony of the circumstances.

The young man that had just appeared from the shimmering haze, had on brown boots that seemed to be just a shade darker than his vest, and the man on the throne couldn't help but think that they might have made the situation funnier if they had been curved up at the toe. The modern day Aladdin-like figure continued to bow his head in the direction of the throne and silently waited, missing the subtle look of amusement on the man dressed in white's face. g,. The man on the throne took one last sip of his wine before he spoke.

"Rubeus. Since you are here in my throne room without my personal invitation, I can only assume that you have something that you want to report to me. What is it this time?" The man in white held up his wine glass and stared at the contents of it as he spoke, not bothering to look directly at the man to whom he was addressing.

"Prince Diamond, you are correct as usual. I wanted to report to you that the centrifuge machine has been secured. Dr. Octavius has gotten it set up in the laboratory he is currently using, and just recently has informed me that it is fully operational. According to the doctor's report, we should be able to mass produce the first one hundred units in the next day or two. He also stated that the robotics that he has been dividing his time between, have been given the latest upgrades and improvements in their performance have been made and recorded. The droids are now fully battle ready."

Rubeus looked up at Prince Diamond with an excited expression on his face. The white-haired prince looked down at him with a look of uninterested distain. This poor sap actually thought that he would be praised for what he had just reported to me. He must not have gotten much praise or gratitude when he was a child. He was far too eager to please, and too proud of himself when he thought he had pleased someone with some beneficial news. Prince Diamond let those psychological observations linger around inside his head for a few more seconds as he continued to stare into the contents of his wine glass. He casually took another sip, swirled the red liquid around in his mouth and held it there on his tongue for a minute before he swallowed the semi-bitter fluid. The annoyed expression that the prince had on his face was one that hardly ever went away, but this time, it was mirroring what he was feeling at that moment.

"And what is the latest from Toomes? Are the ships ready for travel yet?" Prince Diamond made it look like he couldn't care less about anything that didn't directly revolve around him , but this particular information was important to him. Once again, he refused to make eye contact with Rubeus, much less even look in his general direction. No, Prince Diamond's attention remained focused on his wine glass, watching as the dim light shot through the liquid and painted bright red patterns onto his snowy white jacket and the pale white skin of the hand that held the glass. It truly was a gruesome sight, because it looked as if he were bleeding.

"Yes, my prince, the ships are ready. Right now they are still empty and a final check is being made as we speak in order to test all of their offensive abilities but they are ready to travel. All we need to do now is wait for Doctor Octavius to supply us with the droids to fill them up."

Prince Diamond lazily flicked his left hand in Rubeus' general direction, not taking his eyes from their current object of attention. Rubeus understood right away that he was being dismissed and not his audience with the prince had reached its end. The shimmering haze appeared in the surrounding air once more, and it swallowed up a disappointed-looking Rubeus a second later.

Prince Diamond waited until he was once again alone in the throne room before he allowed himself to change his expression into that of a small smile. He took another sip of his red wine, and thought about what would be happening in a short amount of time. His plans were soon going to be carried out and he would be the new ruler of this portion of the universe when the final bomb went off. As he silently thought about the future, memories of the past began to cloud his mind and the smile he currently wore turned back into a frown. His personal memories were truly horrific and he had done his best to never to think about things, especially from his past again. The one thing that bothered him the most however wasn't the memories of the Black Moon's creation and how its civilization had come to be but the fact that he couldn't control his mind enough to completely suppress them and not let them surface at inopportune moments like this.

As the historians would later tell it, Prince Diamond and the majority of the people from the Black Moon were descendants of various criminals and traitors to the planet Earth that had been banished long before and after Crystal Tokyo had turned into the peaceful sanctuary for the planet. Almost everyone on Black Moon hated Crystal Tokyo and the Crystal Kingdom with deep distain and often dreamed of the day when it would be overrun and destroyed by some yet unknown force. Prince Diamond and the rest of his generation had been born and grown up here on the Black Moon, while his parents, along with everyone else's that now served under him, had been born on Earth. His parents had told him and his younger brother how they had been captured and then quarantined to this cold and dark rock by the malevolent rulers, Neo-Queen Serenity, and her husband, King Endyimon.

Prince Diamond's free hand curled up into a tight fist in a fit of rage and he found himself clenching his hand so hard that it hurt. The more he thought about this dark corner of the universe that he had always known and was forced to live in, the more he hated Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon with a fiery passion. He would personally show them and everyone else that served them, the folly of their mistakes. He had spent making years making big plans, and they were soon going to overthrow the supposed sweethearts of truth and love. He hadn't decided what exactly he wanted to do with them yet when he had them at his mercy but he could think of a few things that would put a smile on his face. His hatred for them and for Crystal Tokyo would never abate or lessen until every symbol of it was utterly destroyed. His parents had died a horrific and disgusting death and he threw the blame squarely in the direction of Neo-Queen Serenity and her romantic sap of a husband, King Endyimon.

Prince Diamond had to take a second out of his internal rampage to tear the king down in his mind a little more. The man was such an disillusioned fool. He fought for love and truth just like the others.

_Ha, as if they were worth anything in the real world. The man had lost his nerve, that's what._

Prince Diamond took a deep breath to calm himself, along with a large swallow of his red wine as that last thought lingered with him a little longer. He didn't need to get sidetracked with the spineless king of Crystal Tokyo. Breaking his fixation, his mind drifted back to the memories of what had happened in the past. The strength of the memories and the emotions that they generated within him made it feel like they were swallowing him up and spitting him out back out into the era when the memories took place. He almost felt like he was having an out of body experience. Behind his eyes, he saw his parents again and a younger version of himself, standing apart from them. He knew this memory very well, and yet, it never seemed to make it any easier to watch.

Prince Diamond had just turned ten years old, and he could see his parents coming in to wish him a happy birthday. The ten year old version of him cringed away from them, and the present day version winced at his cruelty towards them. Not long after that incident, his parents became infected with an alien bacterium that had been living on Black Moon. It had never affected Prince Diamond or his younger brother, because they had born here, and it had already been in their mother's system when she was pregnant with them. This had caused their immune systems to become stronger and thus made Prince Diamond and the other children born on the Black Moon, immune to the effects of it.

It was a slow killing bacterium, and at first, his parents, along with everyone else that had been infected with it, didn't know that they were even sick. It had taken about six years to feel or even manifest any signs or symptoms. Then it started out mildly, until it ate away at the infected person from the inside out. At first his parents' strength began to wane then the muscle tone disappeared until there was only skin and bone left. This was a slow process, and it took three and a half years to accomplish that feat once it began to accelerate. At this stage, his parents looked like skeletons with skin stretched over bones that were too big for them and their hair had fallen out. His father had taken to wearing a toupee, and his mother had made herself a wig from her own hair that she had managed to salvage.

Prince Diamond had cried as the changes started to become more and more evident as he wanted desperately to help his mother and father. They felt the extreme pain of every movement once the bacteria had completely taken over. His father had described it once as feeling like his bones were made of glass and when he moved, it felt as if white hot lightning was shooting through his entire body. However, that hadn't even been the worst part. Six months before they died, their skin began to slough off of their frames, and it was that more than anything else, that had frightened the young Prince Diamond and made him flinch away from his parents on his birthday. No matter how badly the bacteria was making them hurt, his one little action of flinching away from his own parents, had devastated them completely, and hurt them more than anything else could. His mother had died later on that day. Not from the ultimate course of the bacteria, but he was convinced from a broken heart. His father had lasted another week or so afterwards before the bacteria finally killed him.

The present day Prince Diamond was jerked back out of his memories, and as he raised his hand to his face, he could see that his cheeks were wet. Tears? Had he been crying? That was beyond unacceptable. He dashed away the tears with the back of his hands in anger, and threw his wine glass away for good measure. It sailed through the air and shattered into a million tiny shards when it hit the far wall. Yes, it was a waste of fine wine, but he was still angry that his body had betrayed him like that.

Prince Diamond's parents had always raised him to hate and despise Crystal Tokyo for banishing their family to the last planet in the Milky Way galaxy, but the lesson had really hit home for him when his parents had died, and were being buried in the blacken dust of the barren wasteland that made up the majority of the planet. As he stood there, he watched the grave digger throw mound upon mound of dirt down on top of two tightly wrapped in plastic figures that were far below him in holes at least six feet deep. With every clod of earth that hit those shells that had once been his parents, he felt his resolve strengthen.

He was going to get revenge on Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon, even if it killed him and half of the people on this god-forsaken planet. That was a vow he had made to himself then, and it was one that he was finally going to carry out soon. He didn't have as much time as he would have liked, because the long life spans that the people of Crystal Tokyo and by extension, all of the people of Earth enjoyed, didn't reach out to his little planet. He and his people would live a normal life span of about eighty years before surcoming to natural causes unless they met their fate in some other fashion. That was something that put him into a jealous rage if he thought about it for too long. He pushed that thought from his mind before he had a chance to dwell on it further. He wished now that he hadn't thrown his glass of wine against the wall. He needed a drink right now.

Prince Diamond let an evil grin spread across his face. Soon he would reclaim Earth for his people, and then his revenge for Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon would be complete. He had already written down a few things that he would do to the ruling couple once he got his hands on them. There would certainly be torture, but he would bring them here, to Black Moon and let them be infected with the same alien bacteria that his parents had died from. Then they could watch as the person they loved most in the world shrank away and died in the horrible way that his parents had. After all, didn't they always say 'an eye for an eye'? Well, a death for a death seemed very reasonable to him in this situation. He would then marry their daughter, further cementing him as the true king of the new kingdom that he was going to create, and the peace and love that were now covering the planet would soon be replaced with corruption and hatred. He threw his head back and laughed in delight.

End of Chapter Three


	5. Old Friends

Chapter 4 – Old Friends

Tera stared around herself in shock and amazement. She was standing in a section of a large village wither houses and other buildings all around her. None of these structures were more than three stories tall which meant that she could see the rolling hills and forests that stretched out for miles in every direction. She felt like she was standing in the one place that the world that could perhaps rival Crystal Tokyo in terms of natural beauty. .

"So, this is Sand Hills, huh" she asked out loud to her two companions as she continued to take in the sights. She was still staring around herself, trying to soak it all in and find the right combination of words to describe the loveliness all around her. .

"It's really changed a lot since I was here last and I can't really say I should be surprised , since it's been such a long time. The public meetings used to be held over there." Magik said as she pointed over at a long, low building a short distance away from them. Her niece had to squint her eyes a little to make it out in the mid-morning sunlight. The landscape looked alive and vibrant but there were surprisingly no other people in sight. It was as if all the inhabitants of the town were either inside or off during activities outside the limits of the settlement.

Hybrid stood next to his daughter and sister, trying to take in the changes that had happened since the last time he'd been here many centuries ago. It had been a far longer time for him than his sister. This region of Canadonia wasn't exactly what he remembered when he had last passed through this area. He remembered the vast twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo that had once stood on these grounds and their sister city, Cambridge during the time before the Great Sleep. . After the Awakening, he and his team of former military men had operated a few missions to clear out as many negative forces as they could that were trying to re-surface in this somewhat remote region., The longer he tried not to think about it, the more of his memories came rushing back.

No matter which way he turned, all he could see was Corporal Hicks' face as well as the other members of his squad. Corporal Hicks had been a very brave man, but he'd died horribly when Hybrid's alien symbiote had been corrupted by Aldrich Reid, unleashing the homicidal nature of his 'other'. The worst part was, they didn't want to fight him because he was their friend and leader. In the end though, each and every one of them was now dead, and nothing he could ever do would take it back. He'd lie awake at night, thinking about them before he fell asleep, and sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night, covered in cold sweat, wondering what was going on and where he was because the dream had seemed so real to him. His wife, Sailor Jupiter always knew what to say to calm him down and get him back to sleep, but there were some nights where he was caught in the grips of his recollections and couldn't wake himself up to escape.

The face of each man or woman that he had murdered during that dark period now flashed in front of him, one at a time, and when they did, he could remember exactly what he had done to them to kill each of them. Even though he'd lost control of his body to the alien, he'd still been able to hear and see and in some cases, feel the pain and anguish of those innocent victims with the human part of him that was still conscious. That was the part of him that had and still remembered everything and filled his soul with remorse as a reminder of what he had done.

Hybrid turned away from his sister and daughter, looking off in another direction. What they didn't know and he was hiding from them was that a pang of shame and regret had wormed its way into his heart once again and it hurt him to remember what he'd done and what he was capable of if the alien ever took complete control of his body ever again. One, solitary tear fell down the slope of his cheek. He was usually so composed, but today, he could feel a sharp twinge for each one of the faces of those that had died by his hand. He realized that he couldn't stay here much longer without his family finding out that he was being so affected by this. He straightened up and wiped the tear from his face, making it look like he was scratching an itch on his cheek. He turned back around to look over at his sister and daughter.

"Well, we can't stand here and stare at the landscape for the rest of our lives. I guess we should get a move on, huh?" Magik asked to the both of them as she squared her shoulders and began to lead them down the narrow trail into the valley where the next wave of buildings stood. Hybrid and Tera were more than happy to let her lead the way as each of them remained partly lost in their own thoughts. Tera was thinking of bringing Usagi and the Sailor Quartet back here one day and they could go exploring. She had only seen Crystal Tokyo and the areas surrounding it for most of her life. Her adventure to rescue her parents from Norman Osborn had been her first exposure to the lands outside Crystal Tokyo's boundaries. Seeing the landscape that surrounded her made her hungry to see what other natural wonders her guardian planet had waiting for her.

Hybrid meanwhile was continuing to relive every moment of the mission that he'd conducted on the negative forces that were located the closest to this particular area. Tera let out a sudden gasp and Hybrid was instantly on high alert as her voice snapped him out his mental trance.

"What is it? Tera, what's wrong" he asked, looking over at the young brunette. Magik also tensed up as her niece's huff. Tera shook her head and casually waved her hand, trying to indicate that it wasn't anything serious. Hybrid kept his eyes locked on her regardless and his gaze silently asked her to explain what had caught her attention so abruptly. Tera could feel her father and aunt's stares on her and she turned her head to look over at him. She sheepishly shrugged her shoulders and her face turned beat red with embarrassment as she realized that she had caused such a reaction from her companions.

"It's nothing bad, dad and Aunt Magik. It's just from that high vantage point that we were just at; all I could see were the rolling hills and trees that Magik had described when she first arrived here. Now that we're moving down into the valley, , I can see more of the city that she illustrated in her tales about Sand Hills and the people that lived here. The core of the city hiding in the thick morning mists as they say."

She tried to play off her naivety of the innocent misunderstanding the best that she could, but she was still embarrassed. How could she have thought that what she had seen up top was the entire village? It didn't even make sense now that she thought about it. If there was a hall that large and open for everyone to have meetings and the big events to be in as Magik had described to them, then there had to be a lot more people around to participate in them then just the few dozen that lived in the buildings around the town square. She shook her head and kept looking around her at the new houses and buildings that she couldn't see from the high perch they'd been on as they moved closer to them. The trio of planetary guardians walked for a few more minutes through the streets that ran between the buildings before they came up to a moderately sized stone house and larger stone structure located near it. As they got closer to the buildings, Tera's ears twitched as new sounds became audible. _No, she had to be imagining that, _she told herself as she recognized the noises. To her is sounded like there were horses whinnying and moving around inside the structure that would be the first one they passed. The confused look on her face was picked up by Magik who was walking beside her. The older blonde woman couldn't help herself and had to laugh out loud**.**

"What now?" Hybrid was starting to feel like he was being left out of the loop, and he didn't enjoy it one bit. He had also heard the sound of horses coming from the building but didn't think anything of it. "Will someone please tell me what's going on here" he asked to the two women in front of him. His sister turned back to look at him and quickly sobered up from her giggling fit when she saw the look on his face.

"Well, I was laughing at Tera's facial expression. She made a really funny face without meaning to when she first heard the horses in the stable here." There, that was innocent enough explanation for the abrupt outburst of laughter. Hybrid kept his sister in his glare for a minute or two longer, before he swung it on Tera. She looked up at him with no fear in her eyes, whatsoever.

"I thought I heard horses in that building." She pointed to the one next to the house that they had stopped at. Hybrid looked incredulous. Like he couldn't believe that they had stopped on account of his daughter thinking that she heard horses. There were plenty of horses and stables around Crystal Tokyo as they were the main means of transportation not only in the city but across the world since cars and other vehicles had been discontinued due to the amount of pollution they created. He sighed heavily before smiling and shaking his head. Even though she was nearly four centuries old, his daughter still had moments where she acted like the little bright eyed girl that he used to bump up and down on his knee.

"If the building is indeed being used for a stable, then yes, there will probably be several horses in it" Hybrid replied back, giving Tera another warm smile.

Magik turned on the heel of her boot, and made a bee line for the main door of the stable. She walked slowly up to the entrance, placing her hands on the lower half of the split gate. She looked in to the interior of the stable through the open space of the gate that began at her waist level. In the early afternoon sunlight, the interior was lit up through the various windows that lined the roof and sides of the building. The strong smell of horses and hay filled her nose. She closed her eyes and let the odours bring back memories of her life before she had been kidnapped, when she had been a young woman and spent a summer working as a stable hand for a horse ranch.

She lingered at the door for a few more seconds before reaching down and unlatching the lock on the gate. She pushed it open, the door swinging open without a single creak, showing that it had been well-maintained and walked in a few steps. She turned her head back around to look at her brother. Tera watched the exchange of looks from her position beside him, and she'd been around people long enough to know that he was silently asking her aunt whether she should be doing that. After all, it would be breaking the law according to the rules set forth by Neo-Queen Serenity concerning personal property if they entered into a dwelling without permission. . Maybe the owners would be ok if they saw that they were only looking at the horses if they were caught inside the stable. At least that way, no crime would be committed and the owner let them go with a verbal warning. Even though they were guardians of the kingdom that did not mean that they were excluded from the laws of the land. .

Magik turned back around and disappeared further inside the stable and Hybrid and Tera looked at each other for another few seconds in silence before they followed her inside. When they caught up to her, she was standing next to a stall that held an old, white horse. Even though it had seen some years, it was still beautiful and well taken care of. The magnificent beast was apparently even tempered as well because Magik was petting its long face, and it didn't seem to mind. In fact, the white stallion even took a few more steps closer to the door of the stall so that it could nuzzle its snout against her shoulder and chest.

"What are you doing?" Hybrid whispered at his sister. It was nice watching his sister showing affection to a beautiful-looking animal but he still couldn't believe one hundred percent that they had gotten this far and no one had seen them yet. The owners of this horse and the others in the stalls around them would surely be around soon to feed or groom them. When that happens, it would be better for them to be outside the stable or continuing on to their original destination.

The horse continued to nuzzle into Magik's upper body as much as the open space of his stall allowed him. She gently petted him and every now and then, the white stead would let out a happy neigh. Every time it did that, Magik would reach up and hug its neck, and it was a beautiful sight. Tera and Hybrid were transfixed by the way she was with the majestic animal. They had seen her with other animals before but had never seen one react to her like this. She sensed their stares on her and she turned back to look at them and smiled brightly at them. Tera noticed immediately and she wondered if Hybrid did too that Magik had tears in her eyes and one or two of them slid down her cheeks.

"This is Rapidash. He helped me get to the west coast after I escaped Negonall. I couldn't bring him on the boat that took me to Crystal Tokyo, so I left him with a blacksmith that I had found and learned that he happened to be a servant of Sailor Mars." She turned back to the big horse and threw her arms around his neck again. "He promised he would get my Rappy back to his original owner when he saw the pendent with Sailor Uranus' symbol around my neck." Even though the horse seemed more energized now that Magik was around it, it noticeably settled down when she leaned her head against its long face and gave him another tender embrace. She snuggled her cheek into the horse for a few more seconds, and the horse actually closed his eyes in contentment. When Magik finally pulled away, the horse whinnied in sadness. "It's alright old friend. You're home now, and you'll be happy here. Soon, you won't remember me at all but I will always be thankful to you for helping me find my family. Magik looked over at Hybrid and Tera as she said the last part, indicating to Rapidash that she was referring to her two companions. All three of them stood there in silence for a moment or two, before a noise pierced the silence and drew their attention to somewhere behind them. The main door to the stable that they'd come through opened again and thudded against the wall behind it. All three of them turned to face the door.

"Who's in here? Come on out now." The man opened the gate and slowly walked in. His eyes immediately found them by Rapidash's stall and he slowly moved towards them. As he approached the small group of strangers, they could see that he physically looked like the old stereotypical person who meant be considered a jolly old soul. He was as tall as Hybrid, but he was a bit larger, particularly around the midsection, and he was clearly in his late fifties. Long gray-white hair covered his head and it was tied back into a ponytail. His beard and mustache were well-trimmed and he looked like he really took care of himself despite his plump-looking physical frame. Magik smiled warmly at him while Tera and Hybrid turned completely around to face him.

"Hello, Garin. It's nice to see you again" Magik said as she continued to gently pet the white horse while looking over Hybrid and Tera's shoulders .The man she had called Garin looked surprised at hearing his name called by one of the trespassers. He swiveled his head as he tried to see the person behind the armoured gentlemen and the young brunette to the other woman that had called it.

After a minute, Magik slowly stepped away from Rapidash and moved herself up to a spot between the old man and her family members. Hybrid and Tera didn't even realize that she had moved from her position behind them until she moved into their view. Garin's eyes lit up as he stared as the young blonde haired woman in the red and yellow armour.

"Iris? Is that really you?" His whole attention was focused on Magik now and he forgot all about the other two people that were with her. He resumed to slowly come forward. Hybrid watched his approach with caution. The warrior in him felt that even though he didn't physically look like a threat, it didn't mean that the risk still wasn't there. He remained on guard just in case things quickly changed.

"Yes, it's me although my name is Magik now." She moved forward a few paces as the man continued to advance towards her. Within a few seconds, the man was within arm's reach of her and he threw out his arms to hug her. Hybrid had been on edge, and had almost pulled out a weapon from his belt when he'd seen him reaching for his sister. However, the smile that appeared on his face as he leaned in towards her made him hold his position. His many years of dealing with people, both good and bad had made him a self-made expert on body language and being able to read people. The change in his demeanor once he had seen Magik had convinced him that he really was no harm and was one of the good people that made the Crystal Kingdom the beacon of hope that had been prophesized.

Magik hugged him back, smiling and laughing as Garin did the same. Hybrid fully relaxed his posture and gently pulled his daughter close to him for a hug of her own. As they embraced, both of them watched with smiles on their faces as Magik embraced the kindly old man.

"How long has it been? It's so good to see you" Garin said he tightened his embrace around her. After a few more seconds, he pulled away from her, but he left his hands on the tops of her shoulders. It wasn't in a threatening manner but rather a warm gesture.

"It's good to see you, too. It's been twenty-three years at least. I still can't believe it's been that long." Magik sounded a little wistful when she concluded her answer. She continued to smile warmly at him.

"Wow! Just look at you." He stood back now, admiring the red and gold outfit she wore, and the long sword hanging from her left hip. The old man beamed with pride at the woman she'd become since he'd last seen her just over two decades ago. She was strong and beautiful, but most importantly, she was confident not only in herself but in the world around her. When he had first stumbled upon her when she wandered into town, she was scared and confused and it was obvious that something terrible had happened to her. She'd been shocked or conditioned into thinking that nothing in the world was worth fighting for and that she was worth less than dirt. However, now here she was; a complete reversal of that frail version of a woman that he had first encountered. Garin turned his head back towards the house that he lived in and raised his voice.

"Melissa! Kate! Get out here right now! There's someone here to see us." There were a few echoes that reverberated off the stone walls of the stable but his message must have come across loud and clear. The door of the house opened a minute later and two women came running out. One was young and spry, and the other was older but graceful. There was such a resemblance between them that it was easy to see that they were mother and daughter. The older woman who Magik recognized as Melissa was a little taller than her, but she looked as beautiful as a porcelain doll, even after all this time. Her brown hair fell down past her waist, with long streaks of silver that shot through it. Yes, it showed her age, but on her it looked gorgeous. She still had a young looking face, and the apples of her cheeks hadn't fallen. They were rosy and showed off her good health and happiness even after all of these years. Magik was very happy to see that as Melissa had become very close friend of hers and she still often thought about her and their brief time together. She ran forward when she saw Magik and embraced her with strong arms.

Kate, the younger of the pair of women looked like she'd just turned twenty, even though Magik knew that she was at least double that now if humans aged the way they had used too. Kate was the spitting image of Melissa, and her mane of thick brown hair blew around in the soft breeze that blew through the stable, making it look like it had a mind of its own, and right now it wanted to dance in the gentle air currents. She was a little thinner than her mother, and just a few inches shorter than Tera. She took her turn hugging Magik, too when her mother finally let her go. The difference was, as soon as Kate had seen that it was Magik, she'd squealed like a little piglet and run up to her, almost barreling her mother down in the process. As close as Magik and Melissa were, her and Kate were even closer. They had some great talks during the couple days that she had spent with her and her family. Magik would have loved it if Kate had been able to come with her on her journey to Crystal Tokyo but understood that her place was with her parents.

Melissa took a few steps back and stood beside her husband, a wide smile stretching her mouth, and a tear or two of happiness trickling down her cheek as she watched Kate hug Magik. When the embrace was over, both Melissa and Kate's faces showed surprise at the strong and confident woman warrior that now stood in front of them when they stopped to fully take in her appearance. Just like Garin, the Iris that they remembered had been thin and frail. A small woman that was easily frightened. Now she stood here in a uniform that expressed power and strength and her head was held high instead of cast downwards to look at everyone's feet. When Kate took a step back to stand with her family, Magik took the opportunity to introduce her family.

"Garin, Melissa, Kate, this is my family. This is my brother Hybrid, and my niece, Tera." There was instant recognition on each of their faces as they finally took in the presence of the other two people with Magik and really looked at them.

"You are both Guardians of Crystal Tokyo. We saw you with Neo-Queen Serenity when she visited Tkaronto over two centuries ago. I think we still have the pictures of that occassion." Hybrid and Tera both nodded their heads, and Tera even gave them a small curtsy as a thank you for the respect that had been apparent in their voices when they addressed them. There was a small silence that threatened to stretch on into an uncomfortable one until Melissa finally spoke.

"My, my, my. Who would have thought that the weak and thin little blonde girl that showed up in our town so long ago was actually related to two of the most elite members of the Royal Guard of the Crystal Kingdom! Let's all go in the house so we can welcome our guests and treat them the way such high ranking protectors should be. Standing out here in a stable is simply unforgiveable" Melissa said in casual but serious tone.

"As much as we would appreciate that, we can't stay too long, unfortunately." Hybrid was reluctant to share this news because he wanted to meet a few of his sister's friends, and thank them properly for taking care of her and helping to keep her alive after she had escaped the demon dimension that she had been held in captive in.

"We must return to Crystal Tokyo. We're needed back there as soon as possible." Tera was sad as she said this, because she thought that Kate and herself might turn out to be good friends based on her first impressions of the young woman. Magik steadied her shoulders as she reminded herself of why they were here in the first place after Hybrid had spoken.

"We have come here and would like to extend to your family a special invitation." Magik took a step forward as she spoke and Garin's family immediately focused their full attention on her. "You may be aware that this is the 350th year of overall peace that has enveloped the Earth under the rule of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon. To honour this great event, the royal couple has decided to throw a grand celebration at the Crystal Palace. Our great queen has allowed each Sailor Soldier, as well as kingdom guardian, to invite any friends or family to the main gala event as special guests of honor. As part of the celebration, these selected people will have the opportunity to personally meet Neo-Queen Serenity and Kind Endyimon themselves."

She waited for the words to sink in, and used some of her magic to make a small envelope appear out of thin air in her hands. This would be the personal invitation to allow Garin and his family to gain access to the Crystal Palace. Along with the envelope, three small, electronic devices also appeared in Magik's hand. The news had now sunk in, and all three of them were beaming at her with wide smiles as they all realized what her presence her meant. Melissa was the first to recover from the shock, and she stepped forward to take the envelope and the electronic devices. She looked from the devices in her hands back up to Magik and cocked her head, waiting for an explanation as to their meaning. Magik saw the confusion on her face and hurried to explain.

"If you choose to accept this invitation, these will be your transport to the palace. These devices are hardwired to connect directly to the transporter located inside the Crystal Palace. When it's time, these red lights will start to glow, and all you have to do is push this button." She reached out and took one of the devices from Melissa and held it up to show them all a small button on the face of the device. "After the celebration is over, a royal guard will escort you home back through the transporter, collect the devices and return to the palace." Magik felt like she'd explained everything that was necessary and handed the device back to Melissa. The matriarch of the Garin family turned back to look at her husband and daughter. They had matching smiles, and both nodded their heads in unison. Melissa turned her head back around and smiled at Magik.

"We would be most honored to accept your invitation. We've always wanted to go to Crystal Tokyo, and I know that Kate has wanted to meet Neo-Queen Serenity for a long time now." Behind Melissa, Kate was doing her version of a celebratory dance. She was grinning from ear to ear and spinning in circles while loudly clapping her hands. Hybrid and Tera waited a minute or so before both stepping up to either side of Magik, letting her know that it was time to go. It was plain to see that Magik was disappointed that she couldn't stay longer with her friends, but she knew that her brother was right. They had to get back as they had other jobs to do. Magik stepped forward and gave Melissa one last hug as Garin stepped forward to shake Hybrid's hand. Hybrid gave Garin a firm grip as their hands moved up and down quickly.

"Thank you for taking care of my sister when I couldn't" Hybrid said, looking at Garin right in the eyes. Garin smiled back and nodded his head in thanks for the appreciation from such an important person. Tera meanwhile waved over at Kate when the two brunettes looked at each other at the same time. Kate returned the wave and gave her a warm smile.

When the conversations had ceased, Magik and her family took a few steps back and held out their arms. Each had one of the same devices on them that Magik had just given to Garin's family. The three of them pushed the button on the face of the devices, and instantly, they were gone, leaving the Garin family standing alone in the stable, surrounded by their horses. If Magik had left a few seconds later, she would have seen the smiles of happiness that adorned each of their faces. They were all so glad that she had found her family and now belonged somewhere. They were especially proud that she'd been chosen to be a guardian of the kingdom. They were humbled that she'd remembered them and had wanted them to be there at the Crystal Palace with her for the celebration. But most importantly, they were honored that she had chosen to bring her family with her to meet them. The girl that they'd rescued so long ago had been too afraid to even utter a name or tell them if she had any family at all, for fear that whatever evil forces that were left in the world and hunting her would go after them in order to find her. It wasn't every day that someone escaped from Negonall after all.


	6. Returning Home

Chapter 5 – Returning Home

The transporter in the dark sub-basement of the Crystal Palace hummed loudly as it started to wind down after its sudden power up. All of its internal mechanisms were making soft whirring noises that added to the cacophony of noise, echoing off the dark walls while the dozens of multi-coloured lights gave brief flashes of illumination in the dim of the room.

Sailor Earth, Hybrid, and Magik opened their eyes hesitantly as the high pitched screeching of the machine all around them gradually wound down to a dull drone, no louder than the thrum of a hummingbird's heart. Once their eyes adjusted to the gloom of the artificially lit chamber, they founded themselves greeted by the smiles of Sailors Ceres, Pallas, Jupiter, and Venus. Off to the side, Sailor Ceres who was clearly operating the technological marvel threw the last switch at the control panel which put the transporter into its sleep mode to conserve power. Sailor Pallas was standing next to her, ready to assist in a moment's notice, if something went wrong or her sister needed help in any other way. Sailors Jupiter and Venus were in the middle of the room, smiling brightly up at their family and friends. It wasn't out of the realm of possibilities that the transporter could malfunction unexpectedly and cause potential harm to the items or individuals that were being delivered to or departing from the Crystal Palace. In lieu of that, it had become common practice for one or more of the sailors to be present to make sure that the travelers, especially, returned or arrived safely to their destinations.

"The last of the personal invitations have been delivered. I'm sorry that we took so long" Sailor Earth spoke when Sailor Ceres gave the signal that it was safe to step off the machine. The small crowd remained silent in their various positions around room just in case she wasn't finished talking, in which case they didn't want to interrupt.

"You're right, that did take longer than expected. What happened out there?" Sailor Jupiter asked as she narrowed her eyes at her family as they stepped off of the transporter platform to the stone floor. Sailor Venus and her moved up to meet them, her face showing a look of concern. Even though her daughter had more than once proven herself to be a capable warrior, the mother in her still got worried whenever she left her sight.

"We are sorry, Jupiter. We didn't land where we were supposed to, so we ended up having a bit of a walk to the Potters' residence. Not that it wasn't enjoyable with the beautiful weather and scenery but it was still a bit time consuming." Magik answered, moving past her niece to take a lead position in front of them. Sailor Venus came up and gave her friend a 'welcome home' hug. The two of them had gotten very close in the last two decades since her rescue from Negonall and the evil sorcerer, Shang Tsung. It had grown to the point where any free time that Magik had that wasn't dedicated to either her guardian duties or magical studies, or the personal family time she had with Hybrid and his family, was mostly spent with Sailor Venus. If Magik had had a sister, she would have wanted her to be a lot like the blonde haired guardian. One of Sailor Venus' greatest achievements, as far as Magik was concerned, was that she was able to rekindle the long lost love of soccer and field hockey that had used to light up Magik's face with the most radiant smile she had in her arsenal when she had been younger and growing up in the former province of Ontario. On the other side of the coin, if you asked Sailor Venus what _Magik's_ greatest accomplishment was, she would immediately say that it was dedication and willingness to help her to get the various community centers up and running across the city as well as get the leagues that they created for both soccer and field hockey ready for the general public. The organization of team sports and creation of the recreation centers were a couple of things that had breathed new life into the overall population of Crystal Tokyo. If it came down to the people's choice of which Sailor Soldier had done the most for the citizens of the Crystal Kingdom, Sailor Venus would be right up there with Sailor Mercury and her scientific inventions.

"I'm sorry about that. We only have a general location for the town of Sand Hills, but the settlement is so widespread and its limits keep branching out that we still can't pinpoint the exact location s and can only stretch the landing zone to within around ten miles of the teleportation coordinates that the machine has on file." Sailor Ceres apologized from her position at the main control panel as she finished shutting down the machine and joined the rest of the group with Sailor Pallas. Sailor Earth beamed a large happy smile at the group.

"That's alright though Ceres, because we got to see all the beautiful scenery Sand Hills had to offer on our walk. Plus, we met some really nice people and saw a beautiful horse. I wouldn't have given any of that up for anything" Sailor Earth expressed with some enthusiasm. She did that to make her friend feel less guilty about keeping them out longer than expected due to a design flaw in the machine that she and Sailor Mercury had yet to fix but also to put a smile on Sailor Pallas' face since she knew that the young blue-haired sailor loved animals, especially horses. Upon the completion of her statement, Magik turned her head smiled back at Sailor Earth with the beginnings of a tear in her right eye. She honestly hadn't expected the short adventure to leave such a positive impression on her, and it meant a lot to Magik that she would be so touched with meeting Garin and his family who meant a lot to her.

"You should have seen it before the Great Sleep. It looked very different" Hybrid countered, breaking his silence since appearing from the transporter machine. He moved over and put his arm around his daughter, gently pulling her in close to him. Sailor Earth rested her body up against her father's armour and snaked her right arm underneath his cape and around his lower back.

"At least I finally caught up to the rest of you now and got a chance to see the central part of Canadonia" Sailor Earth said, looking first up at her father and then turning back to look at Magik and her mother in succession.

Hybrid and Magik had both grown up in the same general area although more specifically about an hour east of Sand Hills' location by the old method of automobile travel until Magik had been kidnapped and lost for many long years in the underworld hell dimension that was Negonall. Hybrid had left home sometime after that to find his sister, learning who he really was in the process, and eventually turning out to be one of the revered warriors protecting the Earth and appointed guardian of Crystal Tokyo after that.

Her mother, Sailor Jupiter, had passed through the area briefly as well. She'd been on an important mission to locate the former Dark Kingdom general Nephlite's Hi stone so that the Sailor Soldiers could put a stop to the evil shaman Apsu and her Opposito Senshi and their plans of changing the future. The Hi stone was the physical manifestation of all the kindness that Nephlite had possessed before he had been corrupted by Queen Metalia and turned into a servant of the Dark Kingdom. As it turned out, each of the Inner Sailors had been tasked with finding one of the Hi stones of the former generals that were scattered across the world so that their combined positive energy could heal Mamoru who had been slowly dying as a result of an attack by the Opposito Senshi. When Sailor Jupiter had been assigned to search for the stone of Nephlite, she'd had been sent to look around the Marine National Park which was located on the shores of the body of water that used to be called Lake Huron. It was still considered to be part of the central region that the town of Sand Hills was located in , even though the settlement was far to the southwest of where the park had been located.

Even though the threat of Apsu and her Opposito Senshi returning in this time era was a very real possibility the Sailor Soldiers were taking steps to prepare for that and keep an eye out for any signs of trouble. However, that wasn't important right now and the group all knew it. Another smile passed between Sailor Earth, Hybrid, Magik and Sailor Jupiter as they all came to the same realization. Now that Tera had gone to the same general area of Canadonia, every member of the family had visited the region at one time or another, and now knew what it was like. Each of them could feel that it had brought them closer together as they could now share this experience together. Hybrid's piercing blue eyes swept around the room as he tightened his embrace with his daughter and looked at the other people that stood before them. It was at this point that he seemed to notice that someone was missing among them.

"Did Sailor Mercury get called to the hospital again?" Hybrid inquired. She had been the one to send them to Sand Hills when they left to deliver Magik's personal invitations but now was absent which wasn't out of the ordinary, given her incredibly busy life schedule. Sailor Ceres took a noticeable breath in before nodding her head.

"Yes. She got a call from one of her administrative assistants about a build of administrative papers that needed her attention not long after you all left. She asked me to monitor the transporter in case she didn't come back in time and to bring you back if you were done" Sailor Ceres explained.

"And I came over with her to see if she needed help, since Juno and Vesta decided to play hide and seek and not tell me about it" Sailor Pallas exclaimed in a child-ish tone of voice. She emphasized her displeasure at her other sisters by pouting her lips and crossing her arms over her chest. The sight of the innocent young woman displaying her feelings of unintended abandonment by her team mates made it hard for the rest of the group to hide their smiles. Hybrid opened his mouth to ask Sailor Ceres another question but Sailor Venus cut him off.

"Mars is at the shrine, but I couldn't tell you where the others are" Sailor Venus informed him and the others, anticipating his question. The trio of returnees nodded in satisfaction, knowing that they would get more details about their comrades' activities during their absence soon enough once they were available. The important thing was that everyone was safe and right now there were more important things to focus their attention on. An awkward silence was threatening to set in as the seconds of silence ticked away among the group but Sailor Earth took matters into her own hands, and piped up with a topic that she was pretty sure would be received in a positive manner by everyone.

"How are the party preparations coming? Is the event planning all finally finished?" Sailor Venus smiled with the expression of bright enthusiasm evident on her face.

"Everything is coming along rather smoothly, which is surprising given the number of guests we are expecting and overall scale that our queen wants the celebration to have. As long as there are no major delays, everything will be perfect and be right on schedule for the big day!" Sailor Venus was taking extra pride in her report of the celebration preparations because she was one of the major planners for the entire extravaganza.

"That sounds great" Sailor Earth exclaimed, trying to match the level of enthusiasm that Sailor Venus was emitting. The attempt was short lived as it was followed with a mighty yawn that caused her to arch her body as her muscles contracted tightly before releasing. When her stretch was over, she raised one of her gloved hands to her eyes and gently rubbed it. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to go home and have a long nap. Something about teleporting across the planet just wore me completely out." Her parents smiled at her as she started towards the large open entrance to the chamber which lead out to the hallway and the stairs that would take her back up to the surface. The rest of the group watched her departure and each of them briefly thought back to their various teleportation experiences using the machine, recalled what the physical feeling was like on each of their bodies. It could be somewhat taxing to someone that wasn't used to it but Sailor Earth was something of a super sailor with her combined symbiote and sailor powers but Sailor Jupiter didn't think that it should have taken that much out of her.

"I hope you're not coming down with anything, honey" Sailor Jupiter called out to her as Sailor Earth neared the large doorway that was cut into the thick crystalline rock. She looked at her daughter with a motherly concern as she moved to catch up with her. Sailor Earth stopped moving at the onset of her mother's words and turned to face her as she approached. When she was close enough, Sailor Jupiter raised her hand to feel her Sailor Earth's forehead but her daughter jerked her head away with a look of embarrassment on her face. She was nearly as old as the Crystal Kingdom but her mother still thought of her as a little girl which often made things become awkward when she did something like this in public or in front of other people.

"I'm sure it's nothing and I ensure you that I feel fine. I am just a little tired, nothing more mom, I promise." Sailor Earth was doing her best to hold back another yawn as she spoke. She saw her father give her a knowing glance as she turned to look over at him; she smiled over at him and turned her body to resume her exit of the chamber towards the stairs. She didn't make it very far though before both of her parents took up a protective stance on either side of her, making them look like her escort and she, the prized dignitary.

"Alright then, little earth shaker, let's get you home and tucked into bed" Hybrid cooed as he reached out and ruffled her hair affectionately. Sailor Earth smiled up at her dad and gave him another brief hug with her right arm. When he called her little pet names like that, it made her feel like she was invincible and incredibly loved. On her left and unbeknownst to the father and daughter, their brief tender loving exchange was being watched by Sailor Jupiter, and she found herself bursting with warmth and love towards her family. It was the quiet little moments like this that she loved to fondly remember and tuck away in her memory banks, to pull out later in dark and desperate times. These little memories were what kept her warm when the horrors that still remained in the outside world tried to challenge her beliefs in the peace they were trying to maintain on this fragile planet. .

Sailor Venus and Magik moved a short distance behind them, followed by Sailors Ceres and Pallas. The four of them talked quietly amongst themselves, trying to get Magik up to speed on everything that had happened while the trio had been in Canadonia. Judging by the expressions that chased each other across her face as the two members of the Quartet spoke, it was good as well as bad. The family trio up ahead would be made aware of the most current circumstances later, but right now, this moment in time was reserved for a happy homecoming and some well-deserved rest and relaxation.

Sirabi was sitting in a large arm chair in the main room of her apartment. Her eyes were cast downward as she continued to read and study from one of dozens of magic books. This particular book was called "Sorcery and Science" and it was one of her favourites as the author's intent was to present powerful mystic spells that used elements of what would be considered modern science. She was just finishing the chapter on using alchemy to harness the powers of the four elements when she heard a knock on the door.

She glanced over at the clock mounted on the wall off to her left and took note of the time. She didn't know who would be bothering her at this late hour, but it had to be something important and there were only a handful of people that knew her address. She closed the book begrudgingly and waved her right hand lazily. In an instant, the book in her lap and the other magical books that were scattered around on the floor and table flew into a large wicker basket that disappeared up into the ceiling after the last book landed inside it. She smiled to herself as she watched the basket disappear from sight. _Magic really was the best hiding spot for anything _she thought to herself as she turned around in the direction of the front door of her apartment.Her facial expression changed and she was now scowling, as she walked over to the door. She hesitated when she reached it for a second before lifting her hand and unlocking the deadbolt and chain. She took a deep breath and turned the doorknob to open it. She rarely used the peephole before opening as she felt confident that she could deal with any person on the other side of the door, whether they wished her harm or not. When the door was fully open and she saw who it was, her scowl immediately intensified, and she was hard put not to let out a growl escape her pursued lips.

"Hello, Sirabi. Long time no see. We need to talk." A young man was standing there in the hallway. He looked at her with a smug-looking smirk that hadn't faded at all since she had opened the door. Sirabi folded her arms over her chest and coldly glared at him.

"If you haven't seen me then it means that I don't want you to see me. We have absolutely nothing to talk about. I'm closing the door now." Her voice was matter of fact, and she started to close the door in his face, not wanting to give him any time to voice any sort of protest. As the door got closer to completely closing, in a lightning fast motion, his right arm shot out from his side and wedged itself in the open space between the door and the door jam, blocking it from closing. Sirabi resisted the urge to slam the door against it and hopefully break his arm for his boldness.

"You will talk to me now Sirabi!. I'm the leader on this team, and as your superior, I demand that you let me in and talk to me now." Her eyebrows shot up, and her face iced over as he looked straight into her eyes. His voice dripped with menace and venom and Sirabi knew that he was trying to intimidate her. He had failed on that regard and she didn't care in the slightest why he was here. She had her own things to do than entertain this self-important blowhard. His verbal statement only intensified her anger at him for interrupting her evening.

"You demand? I don't know who in the Negonall you think you are, but you do not have the right to order me around! I don't care if you're the leader of this team and what authority you think you have. You aren't the leader of me, and seeing as we aren't on any mission right now, you will leave now before I snap completely and severely hurt you!" She forced a tight smile to her face, because she thought it might show him just how tolerant she was being or perhaps unsettled him if he thought that she would take great pleasure in reducing him to a whimpering heap in the middle of the hallway. He should be extremely thankful that she hadn't scorched him on the spot as soon as she had opened the door. "I'm going to close the door now, and it would be in your best interest if you left immediately or there won't be enough left of you to fit into a matchbox. Don't ever come here again!" She took a step back and started closing the door again, not waiting for the man to remove his arm from its place between it and the door jam. If he refused to move it, she would just break it off and mount it on her wall as a trophy. As the door began to close again, the man flung his other arm out and griped the edge of the door with his fingers. Using his physical strength, he forced the door open and out of Sirabi's hands before shoving past her into the apartment. As he passed by her, he didn't see the tiny flames that were flickering out of her eyes as her rage at his brash invasion nearly boiled over.

"I said that we had to talk. That means that I'm not leaving until I talk to you" the man snarled at her as he turned back around to face her. He took up a physical stance to try again to intimidate her, building on the nervousness and perhaps fear that his forceful entry into her apartment might have created.

"You'll be leaving in a matchbox if you continue to piss me." She used the 'matchbox' reference again to remind him of her earlier threat. Her voice had gotten considerably rougher, and it made him look straight into her eyes. Tiny flames continued to flicker in her eyes, and the redness of her eyes' sclera caught his attention.

"What is going on? What are you?" The man's bravado noticeably softened as he took noticeably of the unnatural occurrences appearing around the woman standing before him. Sirabi had never demonstrated her magical abilities to him at any point during their relationship, preferring to keep them secret. Seeing the look of fear on his face as he bore witness to the power that she had at her command was beyond pleasure. She smiled at him, revealing sharp jagged teeth that pricked her lips as they pulled back.

"Don't worry about that. You have five minutes. Speak!" She was enjoying watching him become more and more uncomfortable at being in her presence now that he knew about her abilities and decided to prolong the encounter for a little bit longer, at least long enough to learn his reason for coming here in the first place. Perhaps that bit of information could prove useful for what she had in the works. He was silent for a few more seconds as he was still fixated on her face and the miniature sparks that flashed out of them. When she raised her index finger to taunt him, he began talking at a rapid pace.

"I know that you went back to that laboratory on your own after we left. What did you do?" His face tensed up as he attempted to regain his earlier stern look. Her body relaxed in response and her face was slowly returned to normal as his question sunk in with her.

"I wanted to look around on my own. It's so rare that I get a chance to have access to a high security laboratory operated by one of the fabled sailor guardians. I thought that I could maybe find something pretty that I could take home as a trinket." There was sarcasm in her voice, but it was so subtle that he didn't pick up on it.

"That is a lie and you know it! You're planning to overthrow me as leader of the team, aren't you?" The accusation from him came flying out of nowhere, and she felt her heart beat quicker. _How could he have known?_ She thought to herself. She'd done everything perfectly well, planned every detail out to near perfection. No one was to suspect that she had her own interests in mind or that she had even slipped away to go back to the laboratory in the first place. _What did I miss? _ She asked herself. She had to tread very carefully with him now so that she could figure out what had given her little operation away.

"Why would you have that idea?" Her face was now back to normal, and she was narrowing her blue eyes at him.

"I know you, Sirabi. Nothing is ever good enough for you unless you do it yourself. You're also not the follow the leader type. Those two points alone make me wonder why you volunteered to be put on this team to begin with. Who did you convince to give you that appointment, unless you slept your way onto the team?" He raised his eyebrows in question as he spoke, and black and grey smoke began to come from the top of her shoulders as her rage rapidly built up again inside her. The man's smile slipped a little as he saw the unsettling display of inhuman power return.

"I don't sleep my way to the top, you slime! Why do you think I would do that when you didn't even get it from me?" There was poison in her voice and the flames in her eyes became larger and flared out further from her head than before. He took a few steps back as he wondered if he had made a mistake in confronting her on his own. The display of anger only lasted about a minute before she put her hands to either side of her head and did her best to calm herself down. It wouldn't do her any good to become so agitated that she showed her creature form and kill him as much as she wanted to at this point. As pathetic as he was, his sudden disappearance would cause people to ask her questions, given their shared history which could possibly complicate the next phases of her plan. It took about a minute of intense concentration before she was successfully able to suppress the demonic power inside her as she was still new at keeping a handle on it.

"I don't know what your game is, but you need to tell me what's going on right now. It clear that there is more to you than anybody knows about. I know that you're hiding something, and the more fake emotions you put out there, the more I know that I'm right in suspecting you of some sort of treachery!" The man instinctively raised his hand and pointed at her as he barked at her. His voice returned to the menacing tone that he had used when he first arrived and forced his way into her apartment. In response, she simply glared at him.

"Get out! I want nothing to do with you. Don't ever come back to my apartment again. If you do, you will be a bloody smear on the hallway carpet!" She did a simple little twist of her right hand at the wrist and an unseen force of wind appeared behind the man, pushing him in the direction of the door. The unexpected nature of the magical act caused the man to stumble forward, almost causing him to fall down before he was able to catch himself and stand upright again. Sirabi had to contain herself because she wanted to laugh at the frightened expression on his face when he looked up at her with a questioningly look.

He didn't resist her any further and quickly opened the door and hurried out into the hallway, throwing the door closed behind him. When the door shut completely, she let out a little chuckle as she put the deadbolt and chain back on the door before going back to her room. She looked up at the ceiling and mentally willed the basket of books to come back out of their secret hiding space.

She open up the "Sorcery and Science" book again and resumed reading from the point that she had left off on before the unwanted visit. However, she quickly came to realize that she just couldn't concentrate. The visit from her pissant of a team leader had dampened her happy mood and she had to do something now that would perk her up. She started to glance around her bedroom for any ideas, and her eyes fell upon the closet. A malicious grin covered her face, and she bounded off the bed with a gleeful leap. She opened the door and carefully undid the spells one at a time that held the canister of liquid nitrogen behind the wall, and she floated the chemical container into a magical sack that she mentally created and quickly attached a hose to it. She was going to have to go out and practice her scheme to ensure its success when the time came and there was no better time than tonight.

It was late at night, and the great city of Crystal Tokyo lay sleeping. Since the beginning of the laboratory robberies in different areas of the world, more guards and even some members of the Royal Guard had been put around Sailor Mercury's private laboratories that were scattered around the city.

Under the light of the crescent moon shining down from high above, a shimmering air current appeared behind one of those heavily protected buildings and a masked villain with a large backpack came appeared a second later. The slender form of the masked person indicated that they were of the female gender and she easily blended into the limited light provided by the soft moonlight. The guards on duty had just passed by on their rounds and weren't paying to close attention to that particular sector of the compound, because, as far as they knew, the only way into the compound was by coming in the front gate that they had heavy surveillance on.

The intruder danced her way gracefully among the shadows of the building until she found an exterior ventilation shaft. She quickly and quieted pried the cover off the opening and scurried inside, gaining access to the interior of the building. She moved stealthy through the maze of ducts and large pipes, her soft frame allowing her to move without much problem. With every passing second, she drew ever closer to the men and women who stood guard so bravely in their duty to protect this building and its contents. She stopped at an opening in the duct line that she was currently in and peered through the horizontal bars of the cover. Below her was a small group of guards that were huddled around a bay of surveillance monitors.

Behind her mask, Sirabi smiled viciously to herself. This would make her feel better, and she wouldn't even have to do much work. She put her left hand into a hidden pocket of her black leather suit and pulled out a tiny laser cutter. With a the skill and patience of a surgeon, she used the laser to cut a large square hole in the bars of the ventilation cover, using her other hand to catch the piece when it was fully cut out. She quietly placed the piece off to the side before reaching back with her right hand behind her and taking the nozzle of the hose that she'd attached to the chemical container out from its handle and held it out in front of her. She quietly poked the head of the nozzle through the hole she had just cut and waited a few seconds.

She was about five feet above the group of five guards. She picked her target and aimed the nozzle at the first one. She pushed a button on the side of the nozzle and the cold watery spray came shooting out in a forceful stream. The cloud of icy mist engulfed the poor man almost instantly, and before he even knew what had happened, he was completely frozen. The other guards heard the hissing noise of the spray, and turned to see where it was coming from.

Sirabi used the nozzle again and swept it across the other four, freezing them immediately where they stood. She knew that they were dead upon contact as the human body cannot be flash frozen in that manner and survive, but if she left them like this, then it would serve as a clue to the sailor guardians as to what could be coming and that would give them time to prepare. As malevolent as she was, Sirabi was not stupid and she was not prepared to give up her tactical advantage. The other reason that she couldn't leave the guards in their current state was she wouldn't have any fun, now would she and wasn't that the point of this little outing?

She kicked the ventilation cover off with her boot and hopped down to the floor, landing a few feet away from the frozen guards. She stood up and stepped up to the first petrified guard and gently flicked his elbow with a soft open hand jab. The guard's upper body shattered into several large pieces that fell to the floor around the still frozen stumps of his legs. Sirabi's eyes lit up as she watched the results of her action. This was what she'd like to do to that intrusive pain in her ass that thought that he could come over to see her whenever he wanted and invade her home. The internal anger inside her coursed through her once again, and she lashed out by striking the next frozen guard with a powerful roundhouse kick. The result was the same as the first guard. The uniformed woman's body shattered into dozens of pieces that fell to the ground, mixing in with the chunks of the man she'd just killed. She kicked and punched her way through the remaining human popsicles and felt herself starting to smile with genuine happiness as she watched the shards of human remains litter the floor around her. It looked like her plan would work just fine and it was going to be a lot of fun for her too.


	7. Approaching Storm Clouds

Chapter 6 – Storm Clouds

Serio Krillin was manning the large telescope that was the main attraction of the Crystal Tokyo planetarium as usual. He and the other astronomers that worked there were on a daily rotation schedule which meant that each employee would be tasked with 'watching the skies' for four hours straight at a time. The number of workers in the rotation made it so that each employee would only have to use the telescope three to four times a week. In the event of emergency or time sensitive experiments that required the use of the telescope, the person who was on duty was responsible for it.

So far today, Serio's shift had been the same as it always was. He would slowly scan the black space outside their atmosphere and take frequent pauses to record his observations and notes in the daily log along with each of the corresponding declination and hour angle for each note. He finished his latest entry and set the clipboard back down on the small table located to the right of him. He took a sip of water from the mug on the same table as he realized that he hadn't had much to drink since coming on shift almost two hours earlier. He let the cool liquid refresh his mouth and throat as he swallowed, making him feel better.

He placed the mug back down on the table and typed in a new vector into the telescope's main control computer. A mechanical groan became audible and grew the attention of some of the other workers working around the spherical building as the massive telescope moved along its metal track to position itself to the new coordinates Serio had just typed in. Once the screech stopped, he leaned forward and pressed his right eye against the eye piece. He let his vision adjust to the magnification before he started turning the knobs on the side of the telescope's headpiece to regulate the clarity.

Almost immediately, he saw something that caught him completely by surprise, and scared him to his core at the same time. He jerked his head back from the telescope and quickly looked for the linen cloth that was on the work table. He reached out and grasped it tightly in his right hand. He turned his head back to the telescope's eye piece and wiped it until it was spotless. He put the rag back on the table next to his mug of water and took a deep breath to refocus his mind before he looked through the eye piece again. When he did, he gasped loudly as his initial observation hadn't changed. He pulled back again and spun around in his chair. He did not care about how he would look if he disrupted the other staff members that were working around him. What he had just seen was important and needed immediate attention.

"Dr. Miraco! Dr. Miraco!" His loud scream was heard throughout the entire floor and carried down to the work levels below them. With a high pitched scream like that, Serio definitely caught more than a little attention and quite a few of the other staff members jumped in their chairs and turned their heads to stare at him, or towards the door to Dr. Miraco's office. Some of the looks that they were giving him were utter disbelief that he would scream out like that in such a manner and interrupt the quiet working atmosphere on this level and the ones below them.

A few of the others that looked over at him because they thought he was trying to put more importance on him and what he was working on, thereby being something of a brown noser and trying to gain the senior scientist's attention. The rest of them simply stared at him in confusion and curiosity at his sudden verbal outburst.

The door of the office opened, and Dr. Miraco, an elderly man that happened to be the senior official for this facility emerged. Even though Neo-Queen Serenity had been able to freeze the aging process through the magic of the Silver Moon Crystal, the good doctor was already quite old when that miracle occurred. He moved surprisingly quickly for someone who had been alive for as long as he had, and a good portion of the staff members that had worked with him for decades were still surprised by how limber he was. _They_ had never seen him move that quickly to one of _their_ projects, and the few of them that had been having ill feelings were now staring at Serio with anger and jealousy. The good doctor had heard the blatant urgency and a little bit of fear that tinged Serio's voice from inside his office, and that was what had made him jump up from his chair and move so quickly towards the younger researcher. Dr. Miraco waited until he was within a few feet of Serio before he addressed him.

"What is it? What have you found?" Dr. Miraco's voice was anxious as he looked at the young man's body language as he approached him. Serio's hands shook as he stood up from the main chair and positioned the telescope so the doctor could see what he had seen. He gestured with his hand that he wanted Dr. Miraco to sit down,

"Sir, I was using the x-ray imaging to map out that section of the Oort Cloud like you asked me to, when something came into my field of vision that I didn't expect." Serio paused as he thought about how to phrase the next part of his report. But before he could speak again, the doctor interrupted him.

"What is it?" The doctor's eyes were now wide, and he had a good idea of what he thought Serio had seen, but nothing was worth anything without direct confirmation.

"The Dark Moon. It has appeared again." Serio's voice had become quiet, but some of the staff members that were closest to them could still overhear the conversation and quietly gasped.. Dr. Miraco said nothing at first, but his eyes were dancing around in their sockets with sudden urgency, while his brain raced to see what could possibly be done if the Dark Moon had indeed re-appeared. _No, confirmation still had to be made first._ That single thought cut right through the mental frenzy that Serio's words had stirred in him and re-focused him. He swiftly sat down in the chair took up a position behind the telescope's eyepiece.

"You understand that I must check your observation for myself." He explained to Serio as he prepared to lean forward to look through the lens of the massive instrument. The young man beside him steadied his shoulders. He understood that his report could generate panic to those that knew of its significance. He couldn't fault Dr. Miraco for wanting to fully confirm his observation before alerting the sailors or the Royal couple. .

"Sir, I double checked it. The distance indicated on the monitors connected to the telescope is consistent with the Dark Moon's last known recorded orbit." Serio made sure that his voice was calm. He could feel the eyes of the scientists closest to him and Dr. Miraco on his body as they watched with anxiousness and nervousness. He did want to add to those feelings by sounding excited or tense but he still felt the need to defend his findings and work ethic.

Dr. Miraco pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, took a deep breath, and leaned forward to put his right eye up to the lens of the telescope, hoping against hope that Serio had been wrong. There was a tense period of silence as the whole room waited on baited breath to see if Dr. Miraco would either confirm or deny Serio's observation. Serio, and a few of the astrophysicists that were near him, saw the doctor's mouth tighten into a thin line. That was confirmation enough for those that could saw it, because the doctor was usually a reserved person, not giving his emotions away until he was good and ready. When his mouth thinned out like that, it usually meant that he was displeased about something. The doctor finally leaned back after a few more seconds, and looked past Serio at the group of people that were standing around behind him. This made Serio feel like he was invisible and a feeling of dread began to grow inside him as he saw the look into Dr. Miraco's eyes. It was a look of fear.

"Dr. Widdis! Calibrate all the instruments that have x-ray imaging to track the Dark Moon using the coordinates that are set in telescope's main computer." A young, long red haired doctor jumped to his feet to do the senior official's bidding. Dr. Miraco turned his gaze towards someone else. "Dr. Lever, I need you to get in touch with any facility that might have information on the Dark Moon so that we can update our existing records on it if necessary." A beautiful blonde woman nodded curtly, and then began quickly barking orders to the scientists that worked under her, assigning each of them individual tasks so that the work was spread out and would be done that much faster. Dr, Miraco watched her for a minute, observing how she was delegating his instructions to them.

"And I will personally contact Sailor Mercury to inform her of our most recent findings. She will need to know the latest developments about this as they come." The elderly doctor's eyes panned around the room, looking at the rest of his employees. He almost felt bad for them because most of them didn't remember the last time there was trouble in the form the Dark Moon, even though almost everyone knew the stories to some extent. Serio cleared his throat to get the doctor's attention and it made the mature scientist turn his head to look back at the young man.

"Sir, if I may ask a question. Why the sudden urgency about the Dark Moon? It has been appearing and disappearing seemingly at random for many years now. I agree with the unexpected breakthrough that has occurred in that we've never gotten such a clear picture of it before, but that could be due to any number of reasons." Dr, Miraco could help it as he sighed when Serio finished. This was the naivety of those that didn't fully understand or didn't know the real threat that the Dark Moon posed to the Earth. He had been given the full briefing on the Dark Moon from Sailor Mercury and Neo-Queen Serenity when he had been appointed to run the Crystal Tokyo Planetarium. He will admit that when they told him the full truth regarding the furthest planet in our solar system, he at first did not believe them. However, when he considered that he had near perfect vision now thanks to Sailor Mercury after all the other doctors he had seen had told him that he would be blind in less than a year, he couldn't bring himself to question her or her queen, They had sworn him to secrecy because the information could cause unrest and possible panic if it was allowed to spread recklessly through the population. Dr. Miraco regarded Serio with the same serious expression that had been on his face since his confirmation that the Dark Moon had been sighted again. He sighed heavily again but this time it contained more than a little sadness in it.

"Have you forgotten the single most important mission that Neo-Queen Serenity has set for us? The one that takes the highest priority over everything else?" The doctor spoke quietly, letting his voice only travel to Serio's ears and no one else's. Serio shook his head in response. He indeed remembered it, he just didn't understand why it was so important.

"We are supposed to track and monitor the Dark Moon as some sort of early warning system," Serio answered mechanically. "Although, Neo-Queen Serenity has never told us exactly what the threat from the Dark Moon could be, so we still don't really know what to look for in order to warn the sailors if and when it becomes necessary." The young doctor shook his head sadly as he thought about the futility of this task set forth by their rulers.

"Yes, Serio, she has. Think! Who is on the Dark Moon that would have Neo-Queen Serenity worried?" Dr. Miraco looked at his young employee, his eyes never leaving his youthful face. Serio scrunched up his face as he thought, and when it came to him, his eyes widened considerably.

"No…. You can't mean Aldrich Reid, can you?" The young man became so shaken up by that disturbing realization that he stammered the words out, and his hands fell to his sides. They hung limply for a second before beginning to shake uncontrollably. His reaction was a common one among the general population when the name of the evil magician was spoken out loud. Everyone in Crystal Tokyo knew what he had done and the evil he had unleashed upon them. Even though Neo-Queen Serenity had banished him forever from Earth, people still lived in fear of him and the dread that he could one day return and make them all pay for no other reason than his own enjoyment.

"Yes, unfortunately, I do." Dr. Miraco looked into his lap where his wrinkled hands were sitting, his fingers interlaced together to stop them from trembling.

"Sir. With all due respect, you and I were both there that day, in the Crystal Palace throne room when Neo-Queen Serenity banished him to the Dark Moon nearly three centuries ago. The Silver Moon Crystal's power over the aging process doesn't extend past our atmosphere, let alone to the Dark Moon. That means Aldrich Reid should have died of natural causes decades ago." Serio's tone had changed from nervousness to one of pleading, trying to convince his boss and mentor that his belief in a fable tale was unfounded. It couldn't be true, could it? The man couldn't still be alive. He just couldn't! He wanted the doctor to confirm that particular piece of information for him, but when Dr. Miraco spoke, it dashed his hopes almost to smithereens.

"We don't know that for certain. The man was in possession of a variety of demonic powers. There may be one in that supernatural cocktail that gave him a lifespan that rivals yours or mine" Dr. Miraco calmly said, looking back up at Serio. The young doctor tried again to get through to him, needing to hear the confirmation from him that the danger and the terror of Aldrich Reid was nothing but a footnote in the history books now.

"But even so, there are limits to power of any kind! Neo-Queen Serenity herself can't defy death, so he couldn't either…could he?"

Dr. Miraco could only look at Serio as he could not answer his question. Serio had a point. Eventually, he would die and he was ok with that. This wasn't the same world that he had grown up in and every day he bore witness to things that defied everything that he had once believed possible. There was no way of knowing Aldrich Reid's true fate. All they could do was hope, pray and believe in the power of the Silver Moon Crystal to protect them.

Prince Diamond sat on his throne with a glass of red wine in his right hand, as per usual. It was such a common occurrence for him to be doing that that his underlings believed that he never left that damned throne even for a second. The artificial light in the room was dim, but it was enough for him to see the distortion in the air and the pattern of the dust motes as they were disturbed. Turning his head lazily in that direction, he watched as a figure materialized out of thin air. It was a man; tall and considerably younger than him. The man sported dark blue hair to match his almost midnight blue eyes, and the mark of a black crescent moon was on his forehead, standing out against his stark white skin. He wore a jacket decorated with ornaments and rods made of stainless steel, dyed a dark blue color. To complete the outfit, he had on a pair of brilliant white pants, white shoes and dark blue gloves to cover his hands.

"Prince Diamond, the last of the droids are now fully equipped and are battle ready." The man sank into a graceful bow that was one fluid motion.

"Show them to me!" Prince Diamond sneered out his order as he talked without looking up from his glass of wine. This was showing the man that he was insignificant to his plans, and that wine was more compelling to look at then him. The blue haired man nodded, closed his eyes, and the prince could see that he was concentrating hard. A second, a much larger shimmer in the air appeared next to the man. A few seconds after that, another figure appeared out of the air current. This one was much larger than a human, and though it was humanoid in shape, it seemed like Mother Nature had forgotten to finish the job in forming it. It had no eyes or mouth, and its limbs were longer and thinner than a human's.

"Dr. Octavius was able to adapt the robotics technology started by his predecessor using the raw materials found on Nemesis and from the other sources. Unfortunately, the droids can only produce screeching noises rather than actual words." There was a tone of heavy regret in his voice as he informed the prince about the slight glitch that had been encountered in the building of the project.

"I don't care if they can talk or tap dance. All I want to know is whether they can do the job that they were created for! Can they do it, Sapphire?" Prince Diamond's voice rose as he addressed the younger man, and his hand tightened around the cup of wine. If his clutch on the goblet increased anymore, the glass would be in danger of exploding in his hair, creating dozens of sharp pieces of shrapnel. .

"My apologies, brother. Yes, the droids' fighting capabilities and their battle durability are on par with the information that we have regarding the current defenses of Crystal Tokyo and the forms of resistance that they will face when we begin our operations against Earth." Sapphire lowered his head in atonement and his voice dropped in volume as he informed the prince that everything was on schedule and up to the standards that he had set out.

"Very good. You've done well, little brother. Apparently Doctor Octavius was correct in choosing you to be his protégé. Load all the available droid units onto both ships and prepare the rest of our forces. It won't be long now until the time will come for us to move and take back what is rightfully ours." Prince Diamond languidly relaxed back into his throne after he finished speaking, loosening his grip on the wineglass just enough so the wineglass was no longer at risk of cracking.

"It shall be done at once, my prince." Sapphire bowed his head once more; than disappeared, along with the droid, into another pocket of shimmering air. Prince Diamond looked at the spot where they had been for a few seconds longer before slouching in his throne and resting his head on his left hand, resting the elbow on the arm of his cathedra.

"You are correct in sensing that the time is almost here for your attack on the people of Crystal Tokyo and the people of the White Moon that protect them." Prince Diamond raised an eyebrow when the sudden echoic voice appeared, cutting through the brief silence that had enveloped the chamber following Sapphire's departure. The oily voice floated across the throne room and beleaguered Prince Diamond's ears. A few seconds later, a strange, shadowy hooded figure, wearing a cloak made up of the darkest of nights floated up through the metal floor of the throne room. The figure was sitting cross legged, and he was floating about three feet off of the polished pewter floor. In his lap hovered a crystal ball that radiated light and electricity that came from the powerful mystical energies within it. The figure's hands that extended out from underneath the black cloak were humanoid but they were made up of energy as opposed to flesh and bone. At first glance, they looked as if they made from a kaleidoscope of colors, but in reality the dominant colours were what someone would see in a puddle of oil and water. As the cloaked figured moved his inhuman hands around the glass orb, a person would see a mosaic mixture of light and dark browns, some shades of red and tiny miniscule hints of light blue.

"What do you mean, Wiseman?" Prince Diamond turned his attention and his head to properly address his most chief advisor. Wiseman did not say anything right away, choosing instead to continue to move his hands around the crystal ball in front of him. His body language suggested that he was looking into the sphere for an answer to Prince Diamond's question but it was impossible to confirm that since no one had ever seen Wiseman's face except for the twin sparks of white light that marked where his eyes were.

"The people of Crystal Tokyo have discovered our planet's location once again. The Black Crystal's cloaking power can no longer conceal us from our enemies. We must attack now, or we risk Neo-Queen Serenity attacking us first. She is still afraid of us, as she very well should be, however, she will want to eliminate us once and for all as soon as the message of our existence reaches her ears." Wiseman's voice now wavered and wobbled like that of an old man's. He no longer had the magical-sounding echo that was infused in it when he used it to be heard by other people when he wasn't physically in the room at that moment. Prince Diamond remained silent as he contemplated what Wiseman had just told him and how to respond in accordance. A minute of silence passed between them before Prince Diamond set up in his throne.

"You are correct, as always, Wiseman. The time to strike is now! We will destroy the people of Crystal Tokyo with the power of the Black Crystal! We will exact our revenge for what they have done to our parents and to everyone else that has been banished or exiled to this world of cold and darkness!" The prince was so vehement in his declaration that he slammed his left fist onto the arm of the throne. The strike was hard enough to create a noticeable crack in the craved marble of which it was made.


	8. Party Crashers

Chapter 7 – Party Crashers!

If there was ever a more appropriate use of descriptive words, then the expression 'Another day in paradise' certainly applied to today. The bright golden sun shone high in the sky, warming the world like a mother's loving embrace. Although there were clouds present, they were soft and fluffy with absolutely no threat of rain or blockage of the sun. On the ground below, a gentle breeze blew across the rolling landscape as the white natural puffballs moved silently overhead, , making the long blades of grass rustle in the early morning, and the various wild flowers that dotted the gardens around the Crystal Palace dance gracefully in the light wind. When the sun's light reflected off their colourful heads, it turned each of them into a small jewel, as some of them even bent their tops towards it so that they could soak up more of its radiance.

The towering structure that was the Crystal Palace had been dressed up for the celebration that was to take place in a short while. The front stone steps leading up to the massive twin doors of the entrance were each lined with a large pot of bright green plants that also contained a variety of natural jeweled flowers peeking out from the luscious foliage. A very long red carpet ran down the middle of the steps and continued down onto the central pathway that separated the extra-large seating area that was to be utilized during the opening of the ceremony. Over the main entrance to the Crystal Palace was a large purple banner reading, 'Happy 350th Anniversary' in large yellow font. The sign leant an air of professionalism and prestige to the event while also giving it a hint of flair. The letters had been painstakingly professionally hand painted by a talented artist.

The end chair of each row that lined the central pathway was adorned with a bundle of diamond white roses that had crystal drops of dew on each delicate petal. Off to the right of the stone steps, a platform had been built and designated as the place for the symphony orchestra to play during the opening and closing of the ceremony as well as a few small instants during it. It was raised up off the ground on several steel supports so that their music could carry better over the open air and be heard and enjoyed by the guests sitting near the back of the sitting areas. It had silver and grey drapery woven between the pillars, with the loose ends of the fabric swaying in the gentle breeze. A few members of the band were already present at this time of day as they set up their instruments and put their sheet music in the correct order for the event.

Sailors Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune stood near the back of the formal sitting area, watching the band members and the other workers as they continued to set up the last minute details. From their position at the top of the central pathway, they could see almost the entire layout of the event. Sailor Jupiter panned her green eyes across her field of vision, silently taking note of each guard that she could see. She had earlier placed a number of Royal Guards in various positions around the Crystal Palace and event area to ensure the security and the safety of the guests that attended the event. She'd even taken on the majority of recruits that were still in training so that she would have enough personnel at her disposal in case more people than they were expecting showed up. As far as she was concerned, there was no serious need for concern, but one could never be too careful. That was her personal philosophy, it was always better to have too much than not enough.

Sailors Uranus and Neptune meanwhile were busy helping the palace servants and the mass quantities of volunteers make sure that everything ran smoothly as they completed the final preparations. For a big event like this, there were always a hundred little 'fires' or crises that always seemed to pop up right before the event was to go on. When the last of the servants scurried away to complete their assigned task, Sailor Neptune wiped her forehead with the back of her long white gloved forearm, brushing some of her long aquamarine hair off her forehead.

"Whew, I think everything is finally ready. How long do we have until the citizens start to arrive?" Sailor Neptune turned to face her two companions as she asked her question. Sailor Uranus smiled over at her as she saw her lover puff herself up with pride that they'd handled everything. Facing the other two Sailor Soldiers straight on, the happy grin on her face spread easily.

"I hope so. This has been all so taxing on everyone. I can't wait to get back to my regular life after this is over. Not that I mind helping out, but with hard work there has to come some relaxation" Sailor Uranus said as she crossed her arms loosely over her chest.

"Yeah, and if the relaxation just so happens to be longer than the time it took to prepare the event in question, then so be it," winked Sailor Jupiter. The trio of ladies laughed out loud. Once they had regained their composure, the silence between them stretched out for a few minutes before Sailor Neptune spoke again.

"Well, ladies, I don't know about you, but I'm going to head home and start getting myself ready." She took a few steps away from her friends and looked back over her shoulder. "Care to help me out?" It was plain to see from the wicked seductive fires burning in her deep blue eyes that she was addressing Sailor Uranus, and _only_ Sailor Uranus. The tall short blonde haired sailor suppressed the laugh that was fighting to break free from her throat and casually walked over to join her lover. The two of them walked away, hand in hand, leaving Sailor Jupiter alone.

As the two Outer Sailors disappeared from sight, Sailor Jupiter turned to survey the event area one last time, taking note of the Royal Guards that she'd just positioned to either side of the band platform. Satisfied that they were at the correct stations, she heaved a large sigh of relief and let her body finally relax, knowing that she had done everything to the best of her abilities. She turned her head to the left and called over the guard that was nearest to her.

"Bishop. I'm going home to get ready for the event. I'm leaving you in charge in my absence. If an emergency comes up, then come and get me immediately, otherwise I trust you to handle it yourself. You've had enough training so I expect things to go smoothly while I'm gone. Is that clear?" Her voice was firm and authoritative. She knew that she had to maintain the conduct and level of authority that was expected of her since she was the appointed leader and trainer of the Royal Guards by Neo-Queen Serenity.

"Crystal clear, Sailor Jupiter." He quickly replied back and snapped to attention as he saluted her. She nodded her head once in acknowledgement before turning on the left heel of her white knee high boot and walked away.

A few hours later, the orchestra was in full swing, and the music from the instruments was floating lazily over the people that were already in their seats, and moving to greet the ones that were just arriving. Magik, Hybrid, and the Sailor Soldiers were standing on the steps leading up to the main entrance of the Crystal Palace where all the speakers were to address the crowd from. They were greeting people that approached the steps or passed by on their way to their seats. They were each spaced out from each other so that they lined the entire stair case on both sides.

"Wow, this is a great turnout. Don't you think?" Magik whispered to her brother who was standing across from her.

"The people have no reason not to celebrate. This is the longest period of global peace that has ever existed. _This_ is what so many beauty pageant contestants hoped for in their speeches when we were growing up. We can finally celebrate what those hundreds of women promised they would do one day if they had one wish" Hybrid casually replied back with a smirk.

Magik snickered at her brother's unexpected joke and playfully swatted her hand up at him. Magik had on a floor length, silver A-line cut gown that had a zipper running all the way up her back. It was covered from the hemline to the collar with tiny crystal detailing. It was made from chiffon, so it rustled with every step that she took. The dress set off her long straight blonde hair, making it look like she had a mane of raw gold hanging down from her head. Hybrid, on the other hand, wasn't looking too shabby, either. He had on a black tuxedo with a red shirt, red dinner gloves, and a black cape with a red underside. Hanging off the right side of his hip was the Sword of Gaia.

Standing above them on the steps were all of the other Sailor guardians except for Sailor Moon. She was inside the palace with her parents since she was also the princess of the Crystal Kingdom. Each of Sailors wore full length dresses of similar styles. Sailor Mercury was encased in silk of the palest blue, with a choker of the same color circling her slender throat. Sailor Mars was two toned in a red dress with a section of pink down the middle, with a choker of tiered rubies around her neck. Sailor Jupiter was resplendent in green with her trademark rose earring studs and a chain of roses around her hips. She had a plain metal necklace with one large emerald. Sailor Venus was wearing a yellow gown complete with golden ruffles that matched her hair colour exactly. She had a topaz stone as her jewel of choice. Sailor Neptune was in a teal dress, that had designs printed on it to make her look like a leopard on the prowl. Her necklace was a paw print picked out in turquoise stones. Sailor Uranus looked like the depths of the ocean itself in a gown of the deepest blue. She had seashells picked out on a necklace with blue sapphires in between each one. Sailor Saturn was dressed for the formal occasion in a lavender gown with matching silk, elbow length gloves and amethyst jewelry. Sailor Vesta was in a honey suckle reddish pink dress that set her hair off to perfection. Sailor Pallas was in blue curaco, she had a necklace with a blue zirconium that matched her dress' colour exactly. Sailor Ceres was dressed in flamingo pink, and she'd already chased Sailor Vesta around for a little while because the fiery redhead had told her that she looked like a large piece of shrimp more so now than ever. Sailor Juno's dress looked like the growth of a new layer of rain forest. It was a soft and a tender shade of green. Perhaps the most stunning, however, was Sailor Earth. She wore a dress of black, with onyx beads picking out flame designs. She wore red satin gloves that reached her elbows, and a delicate silver necklace that had a large square emerald on it.

As Magik looked out over the crowd of gathered people, she caught sight of Garin and his family in the section that was closest to her and she waved happily. When the kind old man caught her looking over at them, he gave her a thumb up, while his daughter clapped her hands excitedly, all the while shooting a beaming smile in her direction. His wife, Melissa mirroring the enthusiasm of her daughter, although she mixed a little bit more decorum into it.

The last lingering notes of the song being played ended, and, as one collaborative unit, the members of the orchestra leaned forward to change their sheet music over to the next song. Seconds later, the conductor recovered the attention of his band and began to wave his baton around in a series of swift swoops and jerks. The band started to play again, this time performing "God Save the Queen". The song was the former national anthem of the old country of Great Britain, but had been adopted by Neo-Queen Serenity as the entrance song for her during formal occasions.

On cue, the large twin doors of the Crystal Palace opened up, and three figures emerged from within in a slow, ceremonial walk. Neo-Queen Serenity was in her usual white empire gown that extended well past her feet, hiding them completely, and trailing out onto the red carpet underneath her. The dress was strapless, and a ring of golden circles bordered the top of the dress, running under both of her arms to the back. Two large, synthetic angel wings sprouted from the back of the dress, and two long strands of semi-transparent fabric that were attached to the dress at the location of her lower back. The gossamer fabric was so sheer and light that the gentle breeze picked up the twin strands and threw them out behind her walking form. Adorning the top of her head, she wore a golden crown with a large ruby heart in the middle, surrounded on both sides by two smaller rubies, tapering off around the curvature of the crown. As always, the most noticeable thing about this beautiful young woman were the two long blonde pigtails that hung from a pair of spherical buns, one on each side of her head. It was the one thing that made her instantly recognizable everywhere she went.

King Endyimon was in his usual attire, as well. His ebony hair was neatly combed, and he wore a lavender colored tuxedo complete with white boots and white silk gloves. Even though he had his trademark white masque mask covering the top part of his face, the eye pieces were removed, and his soft brown eyes were easily visible to anyone close enough to him. His cape was a darker shade of purple on top, but as white as his wife's dress on the underside. Several military medals adorned the front of his tuxedo, and two medallions that hung down from his neck completed the outfit, although the bands were expertly tucked underneath the collar of his white dress shirt. He gripped a thin cane in his right hand that few people knew housed his rapier sword which was his primary weapon. Usagi, princess of the Crystal Kingdom and the guardian known as Sailor Moon, was dressed in a gown that was identical to the one her mother had worn centuries ago when she'd been a young princess in the Moon Kingdom. Her dress was white and strapless, with a border of golden moons that mirrored her mother's gown. Her long, pink pigtails were the same style and shape as her mother's, and she had a glowing golden crescent moon on her forehead that indicated the powerful moon magic that dwelled inside her. Her mother's crescent moon on her forehead glowed to match hers.

The Sailor Soldiers turned their bodies to look up at the Royal Couple and took up their individual positions to either side of the stairs, straightening their bodies and standing at attention. Their positions along the edges of the stairs formed a sort of Honor Guard for the royal family. Magik and Hybrid stood facing each other at the end of the line. Flanking Magik going up the stairs were Sailors Mars, Venus, Uranus and Saturn. On the other side, Sailors Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune and Earth stood above Hybrid. At the very top of the steps, Princess Usagi stood between her parents, waiting quietly for the band to finish the royal song. When it finally did about a minute later, Neo-Queen Serenity stepped forward, letting go of her daughter's hand. She moved to the center of the stairs, while King Endyimon and Princess Usagi moved off to the left side, so that they could still be seen by the audience. She tapped the microphone that was attached to her dress with her right index finger, and the loud static thumping from the speakers attached to the microphone assured her that everyone could hear her.

"Citizens of Crystal Tokyo and honored guests. King Endyimon and I welcome you to our fair city and our anniversary celebration! It was 350 years ago now that myself and the Sailor Guardians that stand before me, discovered the Crystal Palace and established what was to become the city of Crystal Tokyo around it." As she described the Crystal Palace, she lifted her left hand and let it flutter up delicately as she turned her head to look back at the massive crystalline structure behind her while she spoke. "It is with great pride that I can say that since that glorious day, our community has grown to unprecedented prosperity and has spread across this beautiful planet, bringing a time of everlasting peace that I am sure most of us here can agree has been long overdue." She took a deep breath before she continued speaking. She looked out among the huge mass of people gathered before her and saw several of them nodding their heads in agreement with her last statement. After about a minute, she continued speaking. "Over the next day or so there will be numerous festivals and other occurrences in the various districts of the city. King Endyimon and I encourage each and every one of you to attend as many as you can and take part in celebrating this monumental occasion. The social ties and friendships that we create, both new and existing, are what keep us strong and happy." She paused again and surveyed the gathered crowd. It was clear from their facial expressions and their body language that they were hanging off her every word. She smiled at them all, letting it sink in that the virtues that Crystal Tokyo was founded on were meant to be renewed time after time. "At this time, I would like to welcome all of our special guests that were personally invited by the Sailor Guardians themselves. I would like to give them special attention now. When I call your name, please come and join us up here by standing next to the sailor guardian that invited you." She scanned the crowd with her sparkling blue eyes one last time before she began the announcements. "Dr. Curt Conners, guest of Sailor Mercury."

From among the crowd, a man stood up. He was dressed in a nice suit, and his arms swung gently as he first moved out to the central pathway and then walked up to main staircase of the Crystal Palace. No one was able to tell that his left arm was a prosthetic limb, made for him by Sailor Mercury herself to replace the arm that he'd lost decades ago in the last serious armed conflict before the Great Sleep. Once the good doctor took up his position next to Sailor Mercury, Neo-Queen Serenity continued on.

"Dr. Michael Morbius, guest of Sailor Mars." Just as Dr. Connors had just done, Dr. Morbius rose up from his seat among the gathered spectators and made his way up the central pathway before ascending the staircase. He had on a pair of navy blue dress pants, a red silk shirt, black boots that were recently polished and a light black jacket. His long black hair was tied back into a ponytail and hung down his back coming to a stop between his shoulder blades. When he had taken his place beside Sailor Mars after the two of them shared a private smile between them, Neo-Queen Serenity read the next honoured guest's name. "Garin, Melissa and Kate Potter, guests of kingdom guardian Magik." The family of three rose from their chairs and began to make their way to the end of their row so they could proudly stand beside Magik upon the stone steps.

As they moved down their aisle, high above them, the sky began to darken rapidly. Black, storm clouds seemingly appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to block the bright sunshine from the ground below. This sudden and unnatural phenomenon immediately drew the attention of everyone present and elicited more than a few gasps from the crowd. Long, dark shadows stretched and stretched across the land, and the air temperature began to sink quickly, as the last of the warm rays of sunshine that had kept the day pleasant disappeared. Through the gathered masses, people began to mutter to themselves, trying to explain the unsettling events that were occurring to themselves or the people around them. Words like solar eclipse and severe thunder clouds were passed around, but not everyone believed that. There had been no dark clouds around the Crystal Palace at all today, and certainly not in the last hour or so, thereby making the storm theory incorrect.

The Crystal Planetarium, whose job it was to issue public warnings about the sudden onset weather phenomena like this, had remained silent. As the sky continued to darken until it was almost as black as midnight, the feelings of uneasiness among the crowd of people built up almost as fast as the arrival of the magical clouds. No one was prepared for the dangers that any such occurrence might entail.

Everyone gathered around the Crystal Palace kept their eyes on the skies, waiting for an answer to what caused this abrupt shift in weather. An eerie silence fell over the crowd as two enormous black ships materialized in the center of the storm clouds and drifted down to hover below them. Everyone's eyes were now completely riveted on them. One of the ships took a central position directly over the Crystal Palace, while the other hovered about a kilometer behind it, almost like it was a dog waiting for a command. The ships each looked like jagged stars, with spires of various lengths sprouting out in all directions from a centralized hub. Neither ship made any noise at all as they hovered over the landscape, making it seem like neither of them had an engine or a propulsion system at their disposal that would explain how they moved or maintained their position above the ground. The tense silence among the crowd of people witnessing the ships' arrival stretched out, as everyone tried to absorb what it was that they were seeing. While it was obvious that the celebration and the prestige behind it was now ruined, it still wasn't obvious what the ships were or what they wanted. The ship that was the furthest away suddenly began to glow with a bright green-bluish light, and some of the people began to turn away, hiding their faces.

Both ships had a large spire that jutted straight down, and the craft that was lighting up's spike suddenly began to glow a white hot color as a powerful laser erupted from its tip and hit the ground with a force that jarred everyone as the ground shook. At the point of impact, a large explosion rocked the ground, making it feel like a monstrous pile of dynamite had gone off.

People instantly began to scream and try to run in whatever direction they thought was going to provide safety for them. As the overwhelming sense of panic ensued, the second and third laser blasts went almost unnoticed, even as they destroyed a hefty chunk of the surrounding neighborhood around the first blast site. People scrambled, tripping over each other and knocking chairs and other objects over in their desperate attempts to flee the attacking ships. Very few of them looked to the skies during the mass exodus so hardly anyone noticed as the ship hovering directly above them began to glow. This time, instead of bright light teal light, it shot dozens of yellow beams down all around the Crystal Palace and surrounding area. Once the hundreds of beams touched the ground; a bright flash of white light shot out for a few feet in several directions from the point of impact. When the light cleared, humanoid creatures were left standing in their place. . The creatures immediately opened their pupil-less eyes and turned their attention to the closest of the fleeing citizens. They began to give chase and attack them.

High above, a high pitched whining sound began audible as thousands of metal objects were jettisoned from the two ships. They looked like the heads of the medieval morning star maces from the times of knights and kings. They travelled various distances and heights before coming to a complete stop, hanging in the air like the two parent ships. Some of the metal spikes came to a stop low enough to the ground that any tall people could reach them with their hands and pull them down if they wanted to, while others stopped themselves well over a mile above the ground. The lower ones that made contact with buildings or people as they flew to their destinations, and whether they were on concrete or flesh, the result was always the same. The jagged metal balls exploded upon contact and deadly shrapnel erupted outwards, sending sprays of blood and bone over the nearest people as well as falling construction debris from the buildings affected.

The Sailor Guardians were initially shocked by what they saw, so much that they were frozen in place for a precious few seconds as they viewed the destruction and mayhem all around them. The shock quickly wore off, and the Sailors immediately took their respective transformation wands out of the hidden pockets of their dresses, while Hybrid's symbiote morphed back into his battle armor, the Sword of Gaia being unsheathed from its scabbard. Magik closed her eyes and willed her dress to disappear and turn into the red and gold armor that she hadn't battle tested as of yet. She supposed that was a good thing but it had held up in the practice battles and training that her brother and the sailors had put her through. _Well, now would be as good a time as any_, she thought to herself. Her soul sword magically appeared in her outstretched right hand, flames instantly erupting along its blade as her hand tightened around its handle.

Once their transformations were complete, Hybrid and Magik leapt into action, trying to create a barrier between the innocent civilians and the attacking humanoid creatures. The way that they moved seemed almost mechanical and both of them shared the same thought. _ Could it be that they weren't human at all? _The siblings came to the same conclusion at the same thing as their respective swords cut through the metal and wire with almost no resistance at all. The bodies of the android soldiers crumpled to sand and dust at their feet as whatever power source they were using was severed.

The Sailor Guardians were now also battle ready and sprang into action, as well. The three members of the Outer Planets moved down to extend and hold the line that Hybrid and Magik were doing their best to maintain. The Inner Planet Sailors moved up the stairs towards King Endyimon and Neo-Queen Serenity, who were still frozen at the top of the stairs, surveying the carnage and chaos that was tearing their beloved city apart. Princess Usagi had transformed back into Sailor Moon, realizing that she was needed and she was ready to defend her home. She stood in front of her parents, intent on not letting a single attack that was aimed at them get by her. She stood as their protector, and the more atrocities she saw committed by the alien invaders, the angrier she got. This internal rage was added to her sailor powers, making her counter attacks to any android assaults even more potent. The crescent moon mark on her forehead blazed from underneath her tiara.

"We have to get you both inside the Palace now!" Sailor Jupiter screamed as she grabbed the king's right arm and proceeded to drag him towards the open double doors. Two guards stood on either side of the doors, offering cover support for the sailors. The king did not resist her forceful pull, but he threw out his arm to catch his wife's arm so he could bring her into the Palace with him. His jerky attempt missed, and pure fear radiated through his entire body as he was pulled further away from her. Sailor Jupiter didn't let him make a second grab for the queen, and he saw her fading away from him as they crossed the threshold to the interior of the Palace.

"Stop!" The scream tore through his throat so sharply that it burned coming out. "I have to get Serenity inside!" There was nothing he could do. Sailor Jupiter maintained her tight grip on his arm and moved him deeper into the Palace before he finished his words.

"The others will get her inside! You have to come with me." Sailor Jupiter called back to him, trying to reassure him so that he would be more cooperative. Back outside, Neo-Queen Serenity's trance of fear and shock finally broke and she surveyed the pain and suffering that these monsters dared to inflict on her people. These were _her_ people! _She_ was supposed to protect them! She lifted her head and stared up at the ship over her that dared to attack her kingdom, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shimmer of air. Out of it stepped a man in a white suit, with shoulder length grey-white hair that fanned out around him as a result of the frequent explosions. She instantly recognized him as his lips curled up into an angry grimace. He was looking around too at first until he made eye contact with her.

Even though there was quite a distance that separated the two, there was no mistaking the anger and defiance that was directed solely at him by the queen of the earth. Those blue eyes instantly captivated him, and he softened his stance, though not enough for anyone but himself to notice. The long stare-down between the two opposing leaders lasted less than a minute before it was broken as Sailors Mars and Venus both grabbed one of Neo-Queen Serenity's arms and dragged her into the Palace. The Sailor Quartet and Sailor Earth meanwhile grabbed Sailor Moon and pulled her inside with her mother. It was true that she was a Sailor Warrior, but she was also the crown princess to this kingdom, and as such, warranted protection at all times. Sailor Mercury was the last to enter the palace, accompanied by two members of the Royal Guard. Both sentinels pushed the massive doors closed as fast as they could while Sailor Mercury pulled out her miniature supercomputer and feverishly began to type commands into it. It took her several seconds before she closed the computer, at which point, the guards successfully closed the door, locked it and re-activated the powerful magic wards that made it near impenetrable from the outside. Sailor Mercury stayed long enough to ensure that before turning around and hurrying off to rejoin the rest of the Sailors.

Outside, a ring of white power instantly encircled the Crystal Palace. The thick track of energy began to quickly rise upwards until it reached the highest point of the Palace. Once it did, the energy began to curve inwards towards the Palace itself. Prince Diamond sneered as the white energy formed a kind of transparent dome around the crystal fortress. His eyes were still rooted to the spot where the beautiful Neo-Queen Serenity had stood before her guardians had pulled her inside. He lingered for a few seconds longer, continuing to stare at the spot so hard that his eyes conjured up a ghost image of the fierce queen to take the place of the real thing. Then he waved his right hand and disappeared back into the large ship hovering behind him.

Hybrid, Magik and the Outer Sailors continued to battle the droids that swarmed the Palace grounds. It seemed that no matter how many they killed, more would pop up to take their place. Unbeknownst to them, that was in fact, part of the Black Moon's plan. They had programmed the droids to multiply by four for every one that they lost. The seemingly unending number of enemies was starting to overwhelm the brave guardians of the Crystal Kingdom. They were being reduced to fighting in a tight circle, back to back so that they wouldn't be separated and overrun by the droids.

"These things are like a damn Hydra! You cut off one head and two more grow back." Hybrid was of course referring to the Ancient Greek mythological monster but his reference was either lost or ignored by his comrades.

"I agree with you. This is pointless! We're not going to be able to hold out much longer at this rate! How are we supposed to break their ranks?" Sailor Uranus was angry that they could do nothing to save themselves or make any sort of progress to protect the citizens still present. Her frustration was made clear as she savagely swung her Space Sword at any droid that got within striking distance.

"Um, guys? We may have bigger problems." Magik's voice had both fear and incredulity in it, and Hybrid risked a quick glance over his shoulder behind him to see what his sister was talking about. That's when he saw the energy dome. _What was that?_ One by one, the Outer Sailors risked glances of their own until they had all seen what Magik had noticed.

"So much for getting inside the safety of the Palace," muttered Sailor Neptune. She was disgruntled, and it was making her fighting slow and somewhat sluggish.

"They have to know that we're still out here. They'll transport us in; we just have to be patient, that's all." Sailor Saturn was always the optimist in their little group. Perhaps it was the fact that she was the youngest of the Outer Sailors and she still had aspects of her child-like innocence that she held onto despite being the most mature of the Outer Sailors sometimes. As much as the others wanted to believe her, Hybrid's next words in response to her statement confirmed their fears that it wasn't going to happen.

"I don't think that we have that kind of time, Saturn." His words brought them back to hordes of droids surrounding them and made them all redouble their efforts. The Kingdom Guardians fought in silence for the next few precious moments, as each tried to consider what other options they had, if any.

"There _is_ another option," Magik said softly but loud enough that Hybrid and Sailor Saturn heard herThey both pursed their lips into a thin line as they considered what she might be implying. It was not something they wanted to think about but dying a noble, warrior's death was really the only option that they had right now. The safety of the Palace was cut off from them, and retreat was the coward's way out. If that was their fate, they were going to take out as many of these mechanical monsters as possible to give the other sailors a better chance at surviving.

"Well, well, well. I never thought that I would see any of _you_ again." A slithery voice rang out, and it was recognized almost instantly by everyone but Magik. The menacingly tone was still there, but the voice itself sounded aged…almost like it would come from an old man. The alien machine men in front of Sailors Uranus and Neptune fell away to the sides as a tall man in a lime green body suit made his way through them, walking towards them. He had a long, mechanical tail that resembled that of a scorpion, and it flayed along behind him as he approached them.

"You…" That single word was all that Sailor Uranus could get out. She re-tightened her grip on the handle of her Space Sword as she clenched her teeth in a hateful scowl.

"The name is Scorpion, sweetheart, but I'm glad that I left a lasting impression on you." His grin was still as cocky as they remembered it, if not more so. The bottom half of his face that was visible and not covered by his mask was riddled with wrinkles and age spots. A bushy white beard sprouted from the leathery skin around his lips and chin.

"You're looking a little long in the tooth there, Scorpy. What's the matter? Time not being nice to you?" Hybrid was great at antagonizing enemies, and this time was no different. Hybrid's attention was split between the threat in front of him and the danger of the droids that still remained all around them.

"The name's _Scorpion_, you inhuman freak." The words came out as a snarl and he whipped his tail around, intending to strike the group that he thought was thoroughly trapped by the circle of infantry that he had at his disposal. His age was showing, and his attack came much slower than they remembered which made it easy enough for them to dodge the poisonous barb at the end of his tail as well as the swipe from the mechanical body it was attacked to.

Once his tail sailed harmlessly by Sailor Neptune, she leapt out and hit him with all that she was worth, on the side of his jaw. With his advanced age and her youth at a dynamic contrast, it didn't take much for him to be knocked out cold. Sailor Neptune took some satisfaction in knowing that she had given more than what was needed.

"What were you going to suggest, sis?" Hybrid quickly asked over his shoulder as she watched the Scorpion crumple down to the ground. He knew that they only had seconds before the droids realized that they were supposed to attack again, and if they were going to do anything, now was the time.

"I could transport us into the Palace using my magic." That statement caused Hybrid to turn his head and body so that he could face her with a look of confusion clear on his face. It was obvious that he had no idea how much power his sister really possessed or what the extent of her capabilities were. He didn't waste any time questioning her suggestion as he could sense that their time was running out.

"Do it!" Hybrid flatly stated as he turned back to look out at the mass of droids closest to him. He made a mental note to ask her later why she hadn't mentioned this power earlier on in the fight or what else she could do in case it became useful against the other forces their enemy was going to surely throw at them before this war was over.

Magik took a step back and fell into the center of the circle as Hybrid and Saturn moved in to fill the hole left behind by her absence. She closed her eyes in deep concentration. A few seconds later, a line of blue-white discs of crackling energy began to form around each of their feet. It was oddly comforting to watch, and the guardians had to take care that they didn't concentrate solely on them, as the droids were starting to attack again. As the energy sizzled along the outsides of the discs, Sailor Neptune reached down and grabbed a hold of Scorpion. She was going to make sure that they brought him along with them for information. This was surely only the first wave of the attack…


	9. Coming to Terms

Chapter 8 – Coming to terms

In the basement of the Crystal Palace, a very distraught group of people were gathered in the transporter room. This group was composed of the Inner Sailors, the Sailor Quartet, Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endyimon, Sailor Earth and Sailor Moon. They were all gathered around a large table that was sitting dejectedly in the far corner of the large subterranean chamber.

The Royal Family had been ushered down to the basement almost immediately upon their entering of the Palace. The reason behind the decision was that in theory, this would be the safest place for them and allow them enough time to recover and brainstorm until they found a way to deal with the alien force that was still wreaking havoc on the lands above them. Neo-Queen Serenity's body flinched every time another explosion or loud rumble became audible through the thick rock that made up the walls around them. Each occurrence of either of those indications was like a knife to her gentle heart. These were her people, and she was letting them get slaughtered while she hid below ground. It made her sick to her stomach when she thought about how her life could be deemed more valuable than those poor citizens being targeted by their enemy.

They hadn't been in the basement for very long, but already the minds all of those gathered were beginning to run more smoothly as the adrenaline of the initial attack wore off but was replaced by physical exhaustion. Each of them silently began to churn out ideas for what they could do to save Crystal Tokyo and defeat their enemy's forces. The relative silence of the basement was almost palpable. Through the subtle sound of racing hearts and labored breathing, another, stranger sound made itself be heard. To anyone who had been in a kitchen at some point in their life, it almost sounded like bacon sizzling in a frying pan. The scent, however, was much different. It was a hot metallic scent that stung each of their noses and made some of them cover their mouths so they wouldn't have to taste it further. The crowd of warriors and rulers slowly turned their bodies towards where this possible new threat seemed to be coming from. The hands of those with weapons moved down to them in the blink of an eye. The Sailor Soldiers made a barrier with their bodies, putting them between the Royal Family and the location where the sizzling noises were coming from. They did not know what was coming but their first duty remained to ensure the safety of their leaders.

Suddenly, the crackling sound was replaced as several blue and white energy discs appeared on the floor, and everyone instantly knew that someone or some_thing_ was forcing their way into this supposedly safe refuge. King Endyimon and Sailor Uranus drew their respective swords while Sailor Earth raised her Gaia power scepter. With each passing second, it became more and more clear that there was a magical transport or teleportation going on right before their eyes. After a few more seconds, little bolts of white lightning began to arc along the outlines of each of the discs The Sailor Quartet broke away from the line of sailors and moved up to take up positions around the area where the discs were appearing while the Inner Sailors tightened up the wall that the Quartet's absence had created.

The Inner Soldiers dropped down in their fighting positions. The death and carnage that the Black Moon's surprise attack had everyone on edge, and every single one of them, including the Royal Family, wanted to rip into whatever enemy they could find as some measure of retaliation. They each secretly hoped for someone that they could annihilate so they could let their pain and anger out even though that went against everyone that they stood for. There were not infallible and were still subject to feelings of justifiable anger and momentary lapses of hatred. It was important that they kept those feelings in check or else they would become no better than the enemies they fought against. If this was an adversary appearing to attack them, they would strike back in defense as opposed to offense.

Even though the Sailor Quartet were very skilled fighters, the Inner Sailors prepared themselves to be the last line of defense in case whatever was coming got passed them. The energy discs flashed one more time, sending a blinding white light throughout the limited artificial lighting present in the underground chamber. Everyone either turned their heads or closed their eyes momentarily, lest they risked becoming blinded for longer than that or at worse, the rest of their lives. When the light faded, and every set of eyes focused back to the area again, a collective gasp from everyone sounded. There, on the spots where the discs appeared stood Magik, Hybrid, and the Outer Sailors.

"Hybrid!" Sailor Jupiter cried out in surprise as she saw her husband. The other Sailor Soldiers were just as shocked as she was. The silence that followed stretched on for several seconds, nearly bordering on the uncomfortable when Sailor Mars asked the question that was going through almost everyone's minds.

"How did you all get here? All the transporter devices are here with us …" Sailor Mars gestured with her arm to the table where the devices were kept to show everyone that her statement was correct. "and besides, there are magical wards around the Palace that are meant to prevent anyone from getting access to it without Neo-Queen Serenity's permission first." Her voice was hard and her body remained tense as she wasn't convinced that what she saw was true. She didn't want the sight of her friends to be some sort of illusion that their enemy had produced for to fool them.

"Although that is an excellent question…" Sailor Saturn began. She stepped forward, holding the blades of her Silence Glaive upwards.

"It's one that can wait for later," Hybrid interrupted. Sailor Saturn looked slightly miffed, but she held her tongue since she knew that he was right. There were other things to discuss that were far more important to the lives of everyone that were suffering above them. Hybrid and the others were beginning to follow Sailor Saturn's gesture by moving towards the table, and even though the Sailor Quartet let them go, they remained at the ready until they could be sure that these people weren't imposters. As soon as everyone was gathered back around the table, Magik asked a series of questions that she had a feeling she wasn't the only one that wanted answers to.

"Does anyone know who these invaders are? Or at least where they might have come from? Who sent them? Anything?" She placed both of her hands flat on the table as she spoke, looking around at the group in front of her. Her eyes blazed with anger as she demanded an answer to her inquires. Tempers were high among the majority of the people around the blonde haired spell caster. Each of them looked around at the other participants as well, waiting for someone to speak up. The collective tension in the chamber was almost thick enough to be cut with a knife. Everyone in the group was running on anger, shock and disbelief of what had just happened. Half of the room was eager, and the other half was anxious to get out there and dispatch more of the alien life forms that were destroying their city. A few seconds passed before Hybrid spoke, looking directly at Neo-Queen Serenity.

"It's the Black Moon, isn't it?" Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endyimon, and the Inner Sailors' faces all grew blank, and their postures turned rigid as his question resonated with each of them. Hybrid hadn't been there himself when the first battle against the Black Moon had occurred during his global mission to destroy the War Wolf demon species. After the appearance of Aldrich Reid and the magical corruption that caused his symbiote to take him over and turn him into a murdering demon, Sailor Jupiter had explained everything that had happened once he was capable of being rational again and the significance of the magician to future events. Magik, Sailor Earth, the Sailor Quartet, and Sailor Moon all had the same look of confusion on their faces. If the situation hadn't been so grave, it may have even been comical.

"What's the Black Moon?" Sailor Ceres asked. She'd lowered her hands completely by now and was in the process of letting them hang loosely at her sides. It had been decided by her and the others that the newcomers really were who they appeared to be, and that there was no danger forthcoming from any of them. In the silence that followed, Sailor Mercury cleared her throat loudly, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room towards her. Feeling the stares of everyone on her, her shoulders suddenly slumped, like they'd just taken on a great weight out of thin air.

"I'm afraid that I can answer that question all too well. I will do my best to keep it as simple as possible, as there are quite a few things that a scientist like me could go into great detail about. She paused before speaking, letting her brilliant mind gather her thoughts. "Before the Great Sleep, Neo-Queen Serenity, the other Inner Sailors, and I all became involved in a war that was occurring not only in our time, but in the future as well." Some looks of confusion from her audience were shot over in her direction, but she quickly held a hand up, stopping all questions before they were asked. "I know it sounds strange, but please just bear with me. The war was going on in our present time, and in the 31st century." She paused to let this bit of information sink in for everyone. Magik's eyes slowly widened as she was the first one to grasp what Sailor Mercury was alluding too.

"Wait, are you talking about time travel?" she asked softly. The disbelief was very evident in her voice. The other younger Sailors' eyes widened as her question sunk in with them. They looked from Magik back to Sailor Mercury for a response.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am." Sailor Mercury centered her gaze solely on Sailor Moon, and the young soldier knew right away that the next part of Sailor Mercury's explanation was going to concern her in some way. "A child version of Chibiusa had travelled back in time from the future to our time period with the goal of finding the original Sailor Moon." As she finished her sentence, Sailor Mercury looked over at the queen and she could tell that the memories of those events were already running through Neo-Queen Serenity's mind judging by the look on her face. After a few seconds, Sailor Mercury turned back to the rest of the group. "She'd hoped to bring Sailor Moon back to her own time so that she could help her rescue her mother from the shell of unbreakable crystal that the future Inner Sailors and myself had put her in in order to save her life." Sailor Mercury paused again and swallowed hard. She had to wrap this up so they could discuss the more pressing matters. "We battled the servants of the group that she referred to as the Black Moon that had traveled back in time in order to capture Chibiusa so that she wouldn't be able to save her mother. After we'd defeated them, we traveled to the future with Chibiusa and fought against the rest of the Black Moon's servants. In the end, we were able to defeat them in that time period as well and then travel back to our own time once the war was over." Sailor Mercury took a deep breath as she ended her tale, and saw different expressions on almost every face around her.

"But…this time is different." It was the sad but quiet voice of Sailor Venus that held everyone's attention now.

"Venus is right! The droids are different and we didn't see any of them when we travelled back to the dark and dead version of Crystal Tokyo with little Chibiusa." The two observations were put out for consideration by Sailor Mars. Her voice held just a touch of anger and a thirst of revenge in it that was picked up by almost everyone. She was by far the most moody of the Sailors, and the level of emotion that she was using only came out in her voice every now and then.

"I've was thinking of that while I was telling our shared story," chimed in Sailor Mercury when Sailor Mars had finished. Everyone's attention was drawn back to her like a strong magnet, and they each secretly hoped that her gifted mind had come up with a plan or at least a solution that they could use to save not only themselves, but the world as they knew it. "The time line is different from the one the five of us experienced the last time." Her gaze found the faces of not only the Inner Sailors, but also those of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon. She sucked in a big breath before she continued. "There are several differences. First, Chibiusa is a young adult now, not the small child that we knew from before, who was so much wiser than her eight years. We were able to rescue Neo-Queen Serenity before she was caught in the attack during the Black Moon's surprise attack, which means that we didn't have to encase her in the crystal sarcophagus to save her life."

"That's true! That means not only do we still have the Silver Moon Crystal, but we have Neo-Queen Serenity to wield it as well!" Sailor Venus clapped her hands together in excitement as she said her thoughts out loud. Her bright smile and the bit of good news she had just said were welcomed after the grim events of the day thus far.

"That is definitely a powerful force in our favor, Sailor Venus. Another one, is that almost half of us have faced these people before and that may give us an advantage that the Black Moon may not realize." Sailor Jupiter's green eyes lit up as she threw in her own observations.

"That's right! This time we know who the real enemy is! The Death Phantom!" Sailor Venus steadied herself as she spoke, panning her head over to look at Neo-Queen Serenity. Just like before, looks of confusion spread across the faces of the younger Sailor Soldiers, and Magik's as well.

"Who's that?" Sailor Earth asked for all of those, who like her, didn't understand who the person Sailor Venus had just mentioned.

"He is, well _was_, a criminal that Neo-Queen Serenity banished to the Dark Moon…" Sailor Mercury's sentence trailed off as her mind drifted back to the memory of that dark period of time. Sailor Mars' temper got the better of her again and she finished the sentence for her friend.

"He was a very powerful sorcerer who, after being exiled, became one with the Dark Moon, the tenth planet in our Solar System. Well … more specifically, the Black Crystal located in the very heart of the Dark Moon." Sailor Jupiter turned to her daughter as Sailor Mars spoke. She could see that her daughter was not fully grasping the relevance of what was being said. When Sailor Mars had finished, the tall brunette warrior put her hand on Tera's shoulder, drawing her attention. When she looked at her, she tried to explain it in a way that she might understand.

"Tera, honey…the Death Phantom is Aldrich Reid." That one simple sentence suddenly made it seem more real to the younger Sailors, and it drew everyone back to the present instead of the past. That name drew a loud gasp out of Sailor Earth. Her mother was well aware that her daughter had researched the history of Crystal Tokyo and her parents' respective roles in guarding it. As a young child, she'd been very curious as to why the citizens of Crystal Tokyo were in such awe of her parents. She'd made many trips to the Library of Records where she could read any public record that she wanted. The kingdom historians had written quite a lot on her parents actually, and she had read it all. What she had discovered was both confusing and disturbing and for the longest time, she kept what she had learned to herself.

When she'd gotten a little older, she'd wanted to see if her parents would trust her with the knowledge that she'd already discovered by telling her themselves. As it had turned out, both of her parents had been completely honest with her, not leaving out any details, and they knew even more details than the historians had not recorded. The tale was gruesome, and it was hard listening to her parents telling her how the magician, Aldrich Reid had tried to orchestrate their deaths, as well as the deaths of the other Sailor Soldiers and the King and Queen. That had even included her, because at the time she was still growing inside Sailor Jupiter's belly.

Sailor Moon and the Sailor Quartet all recognized the name as well but they didn't have the same emotional impact as Sailor Earth did upon hearing it. There was a brief moment of silence as the memories of those dark times ran through every mind that knew something of them. After a minute, Hybrid broke the silence, and his voice was a little hoarse as he spoke.

"Now that everyone knows who and what we're up against, we need to start formulating a plan on how we can fight back." There was a nod of agreement from everyone in the group but yet no one immediately spoke up.

"We should find the Death Phantom whatever he is and take him out! Without his power and influence, the Black Moon leadership might falter enough for us to defeat them all!" Sailor Juno banged her fist on the table in anger and aggression to drive her point home. The rest of the Sailor Quartet, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Mars all nodded their heads in agreement with her. It was at this time that the king finally broke his silent vigil from the far corner of the table.

"No. That plan is far too reckless, and I won't risk any more lives than necessary." His voice was firm and serious and it was clear that the topic was closed for further discussion. However, Sailor Vesta dared to challenge her king.

"But, my king, if we could capture or at least neutralize him, we may be able to stop this war before it causes any more casualties." Sailor Vesta said before taking a breath. She opened her mouth to say something else, but she was interrupted.

"No, Sailor Vesta. I agree with Endyimon." Neo-Queen Serenity cut the red haired Sailor Soldier off before she could get another word out. There was a brief moment where it looked like Sailor Vesta might actually verbally challenge Neo-Queen Serenity as well, but the young Sailor Soldier wisely, and very quickly, suppressed that urge. Sailor Mercury drew everyone's attention back to her, when she saw Sailor Vesta back down.

"Neo-Queen Serenity is right. We don't know enough about what else is different this time, and why, from what we've experienced, to devise a proper plan of attack yet. It is unfortunate but we just don't know enough yet". She paused to look around the table. "We need to learn more about our enemy, more specifically, what technology they have. And I also believe that it is very important for us to figure out if they have any plans on traveling back to the past again." There was a general murmur of agreement going around the table. Sailor Mars suddenly looked straight at Sailor Mercury and her face clouded over as a thought entered her mind.

"We also need to find out if there are any new members of the Black Moon that we haven't seen or faced in battle before."

"That's right! I saw Prince Diamond just seconds before we got Neo-Queen Serenity into the Crystal Palace." Sailor Venus remembered suddenly.

"I think we might be able to help with most of those points," said Magik softly. Everyone turned their attention to her to hear what she was talking about. Everyone had the sense that she wouldn't have said something like that if she didn't already have a solution.


	10. Intimidation and Interrogation

Chapter 9 – Intimidation and Interrogation

Prince Diamond sat upon his throne in the small private room off the bridge of his starship. He was staring intently at an image that the ship's master computer had taken during .the opening attack at the city of Crystal Tokyo. It was a still picture of Neo-Queen Serenity staring up at the ship. Well, more specifically, she was staring up at him as he'd dropped in on the battle to see his plan unfold from above. He was staring at her as if she were the only thing that made his heartbeat like a drum.

"Zoom In!" The computer did so, now showing him the image of the queen from the waist up. That wasn't good enough for him. He ordered the computer to zoom in again. After a couple of seconds, the image showed Neo-Queen Serenity's head. The look on her face was angry and fierce. Prince Diamond still wasn't fully satisfied. He ordered the computer to zoom in one last time, a clear tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Those eyes…" He was so entranced with the blue eyes of the queen that he couldn't even tell if it had only been a thought, or if he had just spoken it out loud. He sat there, sipping his red wine, and growing more and more infatuated with Neo-Queen Serenity with each passing second. Time seemed to slip away as he lost himself in the twin pools of blue sapphires.

A flash of movement caught his eye as the air rippled just a few feet away from him, breaking the spell the image had on him. Rubeus appeared a second later, but he remained silent, waiting for his prince to acknowledge his presence. As the silence drew out, Prince Diamond pushed a button on the arm rest of his chair, and the image evaporated, pushing the darkness that the light from the image had kept at bay back into the room. Prince Diamond turned to face Rubeus, anger and annoyance at being disturbed etched into every line of his face.

"What do you have to report, Rubeus?" The question was spit out, like poison from a snake bite. Rubeus picked up on it immediately and steadied his shoulders. He could tell it was best to relate the information he had quickly and leave the prince to his privacy or else he was sure he would feel his wrath.

"My prince, our initial attack has leveled much of the areas around the western part of the Crystal Palace. Early estimates have indicated heavy civilian losses, which will further weaken the moral of the remaining populace. The spirit of the people has been effectively broken. The droid army is now in the process of hunting down any survivors of the initial attack in the targeted areas before we move on to the next quadrant of the city. The second round of bombardment is scheduled to begin in a few minutes." The prince did not change his facial expression upon hearing his report, but continued to stared back at the red haired man evenly.

"Are there any problems to report?" The prince sneered at his underling as he asked the question. He wasn't so arrogant to believe that their attack had gone completely perfect. Rubeus looked away from Prince Diamond for a second or two, shifting his body uncomfortably. The prince tilted his head to the side as his suspicions were confirmed. Reluctantly, Rubeus spoke after a few more seconds of silence, swallowing hard before opening his mouth.

"Our ships have been unable as of yet to penetrate the energy shield around the Crystal Palace as of yet. It's made up of a type of energy that we haven't encountered before or even considered when we were making the main laser and projectile cannons. It's possible that it could be the power of the Silver Moon Cry-"

"No, it is not the power of the crystal," an echo-like voice cut in, silencing the rest of Rubeus' report. From the middle of the open floor between the two individuals, the Wiseman rose up like a ghostly specter. He was still in the cross legged position that he was usually seen in, and the crystal ball was levitating a few inches off of his lap as he floated about two feet above the floor. His false hands of many colors were moving restlessly around the crackling glass ball as he stared it intently. Although Rubeus was curious, he knew better than to try to ask Wiseman how he knew that. The prince's advisor probably wouldn't answer him anyway. Rubeus ignored Wiseman, and turned back to face Prince Diamond. He was not looking forward to giving the prince the rest of the bad news, but he knew that he had to. He swallowed hard again before he spoke again.

"My prince, the Scorpion has been captured by a group of the Earth's main guardians, the Sailors. It is unlikely that they have executed him as of yet and have merely imprisoned him somewhere in the Palace." It was at this time that the prince's face changed. Before it ranged from bored annoyance to simple annoyance, but now it was very clearly a high degree of anger and fury. Prince Diamond knew that if Scorpion started talking, he would give the Sailors information about the Black Moon and their forces. This would now make the takeover of Crystal Tokyo much harder than it needed to be.

"You fool! The Scorpion was your personal responsibility! If the Sailors or Neo-Queen Serenity get him to open up, he will give them information that could be disastrous to us!" It was almost as if lightning bolts were shooting from Prince Diamond's eyes as he stared at Rubeus.

"My apologies, my prince, I should have known that his advanced age would…" Rubeus broke off. He couldn't stand looking at the anger and disappointment that radiated from his leader's eyes any longer as he spoke, lowering his head in a bow of penance. Prince Diamond cut him off before he could continue his sentence, and it with such vehemence that Rubeus' body shuddered in fear.

"Enough! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses any longer! This is your mess, fix it now!" Rubeus bowed his head again, having lifted it when Prince Diamond addressed him. He disappeared in another shimmering air current a second after the prince had finished his order. Once the two of them were alone, Wiseman spoke up.

"We need to bring the Black Crystal here to us. Its power will fortify our soldiers, and make the Silver Moon Crystal useless to the Sailors." Prince Diamond's hand itched towards the button on his arm rest again. He wanted nothing more than to spend his time, staring into Neo-Queen Serenity's eyes.

"I'll have Emerald send it, along with herself. With the Scorpion captured, we have to cut our losses and re-strengthen our ranks." Prince Diamond settled back in his throne after speaking, but he couldn't stop himself from glancing at the computer screen's power button.

"I agree, my prince." The Wiseman's hands were still encircling the crystal ball in his lap as he spoke. Prince Diamond finally rested his head on his hand, leaning heavily on his arm rest. He crossed his right leg over his leg, letting his foot dangle in the open space.

"Leave me then Wiseman. I wish to be alone to contemplate what is to come next." Prince Diamond purposely didn't look at the black cloaked figure.

"As you wish." The response came seconds before the Wiseman sank back into the floor, presumably disappearing into the lower levels of the starship. The prince sat in rigid silence for a few seconds more, making sure that he was absolutely alone. When he was sure that he was, he commanded the computer to bring up the last image that he'd been looking at, Neo-Queen Serenity's soulful eyes. It took only a nanosecond for the computer to respond, but it quickly conjured up the picture that he'd been losing himself in earlier. Before long, he started whispering to himself again.

"Those eyes…those fierce, defiant, beautiful blue eyes…"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sailor Juno exclaimed. Her young voice drew a few pairs of eyes over in her direction from the large group of people around her.

"I don't like the green-suited, scorpion man. He's a meanie" Sailor Pallas added with a pout. She crossed her arms over her chest and slumped her shoulders. Her body's posture reflected the ill feelings she held for the man she was looking at.

"Well, it could have been the other one," Sailor Moon said quietly. Beside her, Sailor Mercury shifted her weight from one foot to the other, rubbing her left elbow with her right hand as she instinctively cast her eyes downward. This was a clear sign that she knew what Sailor Moon had meant when she said it could have been the other being that went by the name of Scorpion. The yellow and black clad ninja warrior that also went by that moniker had almost killed her when ordered to by the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung. Even though the attempt on her life had been over two decades ago, to Sailor Mercury every detail jumped out at her as if it had just happened yesterday. The green suited villain also known as Scorpion was chained to the wall of a cell by his wrists, and every so often he would shake his manacles menacingly at whoever looked at him. The mechanical tail that was his primary weapon had been forcibly removed from him and was now lying in the hallway, far outside of the cell where it would remain until Sailor Mercury could analyze it at a later date. Sailor Mars instantly picked up on the distress in Sailor Mercury's body language, and looked at her friend with sincere sympathy in her violet eyes.

"Open the cell." The order came from a very calm Neo-Queen Serenity. Sailor Mars was the closest to the locking mechanism in the wall, so she broke her gaze at Sailor Mercury and hurried over to do her queen's bidding. She put her right hand flat against the biogenic scanner and waited for the sensor to power up. Once the sensors were up and running, a thick green line started at the top of the screen, and slowly began to move down the surface of Sailor Mars' hand. Once the scan was complete, a digitized voice rang out for all of them to hear.

"Access granted Sailor Mars." There was a series of mechanical clicks, and the locks on the cell door unclasped. The cell door slid open with a metallic whine, until it clanged to a halt at the end of its track. Neo-Queen Serenity entered the cell first, followed by King Endyimon, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon. The cell wasn't very large, so the other Sailors and Guardians gathered outside of the cell, looking in through the bars, and simultaneously providing a wall of defense in case Scorpion decided he might want to try his luck at escaping. The queen took up a position directly in front of the villain while the rest of them fanned out behind her.

"MacDonald Gargan. We would like to speak to you." The queen was hoping to catch more flies with honey if she treated the man with politeness and respect. The Scorpion didn't verbally respond to her, but his mouth and eyelids flickered, showing that he had indeed heard her. Neo-Queen Serenity decided to press on and try to appeal to what remained of his humanity. They didn't have much time to try to save the rest of the city.

"We know much about you, MacDonald. We found your personal file when we dismantled the laboratory of Norman Osborn. We know that you were ostracized by your peers, and that your father was less than supportive of you as you were maturing into a young man. That living environment created developmental anti-social behaviors in you, and that was what Norman Osborn used against you to recruit you for his genetic engineering experiments. But it was your resentment for all of humanity because of your upbringing that made you accept his offer, wasn't it?" Neo-Queen Serenity paused again, trying to find out if the Scorpion was going to respond at all to the personal information she'd just revealed to him. The Scorpion continued to remain silent, although his body noticeably twitched along with his eyelids, which were still closed. Taking this as a sign that her words were bringing back some sort of memories, she decided to get to the point of the conversation. "MacDonald Gargan, we are willing to offer you amnesty for your past offenses against Crystal Tokyo and the planet Earth. You would be restored to the identity of MacDonald Gargan with the full rights and privileges of any citizen of the Crystal Kingdom. In return, we would like to know everything that you can tell us about the Black Moon and its leaders." There was a long pause after Neo-Queen Serenity finished speaking, and everyone in the room was waiting on bated breath to see what the Scorpion's response to the queen's offer would be.

For the first time since being brought into the Crystal Palace's prison, the Scorpion lifted his head and he looked directly at the seemingly human porcelain doll that stood before him. His face muscles tightened as mentally analyzed the offer she thought he might want. His light green eyes flashed from deep within the eye holes of his mask, and the look that he gave the small audience in front of him was intended to induce fear, or at the very least uneasiness. Unfortunately, he could see from their faces that it hadn't worked. He was no threat to them with his hands encased in the heavy silver manacles that held him prisoner and they knew it. Even if he had been younger and in his prime, he still wouldn't have been able to rip the chains from the wall.

"No one but my mother calls me MacDonald." He did his best to sneer menacingly at Neo-Queen Serenity as he addressed her. Though her shoulders were bare, she made a physical show of squaring them to show the Scorpion that she was neither afraid nor intimidated by his false bravado.

"Very well then Scorpion. Do you accept my offer?" She was the picture of self-righteous anger and defiance, standing up for the lives of the people that had perished in the attack and the ones that were still in danger.

"I'm no rat, queenie. So it looks to me like your choices are to either send me back to the Dark Moon or leave me down here to rot for the rest of eternity. Do what you will with me, it doesn't matter but I am not talking." A blanket of defeat and disappointment wrapped itself around the Sailors and the Royal Family when the Scorpion lowered his head and made it clear that he wasn't going to say anything else. From his position outside the prison cell, Hybrid spoke up in a quiet voice when Neo-Queen Serenity glanced her eyes over in his direction.

"My queen, a moment?" Neo-Queen Serenity looked at the Scorpion one last time before turning back to Hybrid and nodding her head. She stepped outside the cell and followed Hybrid as he lead her away from it and the rest of the group so that they could talk into private.

Back inside the cell, King Endyimon stepped up to take the now vacant spot where his wife had just stood, while Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Moon made a barrier between the prisoner and the still open cell door. Hybrid led Neo-Queen Serenity a short distance away, down the hallway, but still far enough that Scorpion wouldn't be able to hear them. When he felt that they were far enough away, Hybrid stopped and turned to face his queen. He looked into her eyes, and took a deep breath to steady himself before he began to speak. "My queen. We need to know what he knows, and as much as I admire you for trying to bring it out of him in the gentlest way possible, we don't have the time to wait around for him to have a change of heart." Neo-Queen Serenity said nothing, but the look in her eyes told Hybrid that she agreed with him, although it also said she was wary of what he might say next. "With the highest of respect to you and King Endyimon, I love this world, and this city. But I _will not_ stand idly by and watch as the people that I swore to protect are suffering and being slaughtered by these invaders." His passion came out in his voice, and she could see the emotional pain that was coming from the storm raging inside him.

"What are you implying, Hybrid?" Neo-Queen Serenity's voice was quiet, but hard as steel. This was going to be a defining moment between her and Hybrid. Suspicion and unease grew in her as she waited to hear if her suspicions were true. _He can't be referring to what I think he is, can he?_ When Hybrid didn't answer right away, she began to begin that her suspicions were right. When she spoke next, her voice was cold as ice. "I will _not_ condone the use of torture or other barbaric practices under any circumstances! It goes against the very ideals that this kingdom was built on!"

"Not torture, my queen. I am merely suggesting that we use the methods that are available to us at the present moment." Hybrid could feel the tension building between them, and he knew that he was walking a very fine line with his queen right now. Neo-Queen Serenity was very black and white when it came to topics like this. There was no leniency for those who disobeyed, and there were no grey areas to be considered.

"Then what do you mean?" Confusion colored her voice, and he thought he might be able to present it to her in a manner in which she would agree to.

"The Scorpion is a monster. A human turned into a monster, but a monster nonetheless. What I propose, is that we use a monster of our own to get the information that we need without breaking any of the sacred laws that you've put into place." Neo-Queen Serenity stepped back from him with a look of fear flashing from her eyes. The realization came to her almost immediately and hit her hard. She was already shaking her head before she spoke.

"Hybrid, you know that you can't use the identity of Carnage or his likeness. It is expressly forbidden by my royal decree." The queen's voice was now flat but hard at the same time. She didn't want to even think about one of her guardians talking about breaking one of the laws that they were sworn to uphold. The idea that Hybrid would even suggest using his former persona and the painful emotions it would stir up not only with her but every one of the Sailors as well was almost unreal.

"No, not Carnage. Scorpion has already seen him when I was captured by Norman Osborn and subjected to the chemical brainwashing that he used on me. Thus my presence in that identity won't have the desired effect that we need right now."

"Then who are you…" She trailed off as she looked towards Hybrid's face, and followed his gaze over her shoulder to the young brown haired woman in the red and black Sailor uniform down the hall behind her. She turned her head and immediately saw the only person he could be referring to.

"Hybrid! That is your daughter! How can you suggest sacrificing her innocent soul for mere information?" Shock and surprise mingled in with hurt and anger as the queen couldn't decide what to feel. She, like him was a parent and it was inconceivable to her that a parent would willing ask their child to do such a potentially dark task like interrogate a prison using fear tactics.

"Yes, but she also possesses a symbiote that Scorpion has not seen so we will have the element of surprise on our side." He was keeping his voice calm as he spoke, confidence ringing out of his every word. "Her other identity is not illegal according to the law of Crystal Tokyo, and she has been regularly purified by the Silver Moon Crystal for over three centuries. There is almost no chance that she will lose control and allow her symbiote to take over." He continued to look back at Tera, who in turn was staring at Scorpion inside the cell and had no idea about what was being said about her. A look of pride radiated from his face as he stared at his beautiful and strong daughter. "I know that she can do this and I believe she is our best bet for getting the information that we need in a timely manner."

Neo-Queen Serenity didn't say anything for quite some time. She was thinking about what Hybrid had suggested, and even though she didn't want to admit it to herself or anyone else, she couldn't shake the notion that it could work. The method Hybrid was suggesting was much darker than what she would have liked, but it _could_ work. The queen turned her body until she was fully facing the group of guardians that were all counting on her. Hybrid took a step forward and stood next to her, remaining silent as he looked towards the group as well.

"If I agree to this, she cannot touch Scorpion at all. She can only use words and her physical presence. If she breaks those rules, or shows any sign of losing control of her symbiote, I will pull the plug on the whole interrogation and she will be disciplined accordingly." Neo-Queen Serenity did not turn to look at Hybrid as she spoke. Hybrid remained silent and stared at his daughter for another second or two before nodding his head once to show that he agreed to her terms.

"Ok…do it." Neo-Queen Serenity flatly said, not moving her body. She wasn't sure at first if Hybrid had heard her because she hadn't turned towards him, and her voice was barely above a whisper as she had to force the words out of her mouth. Hybrid did not reply back. He just walked forward, back towards the group and gently put his arm around Sailor Earth's right arm. From his position down the hallway, Neo-Queen Serenity watched as he led her away from the group so that he could talk to her privately. Neo Queen Serenity remained away from the group, silently wondering if she had done the right thing. This was going to be plaguing her until it was over and done with and perhaps long after this was over. She watched Hybrid take Sailor Earth on the other side of the group, perhaps using them as a buffer between them and the white queen.

On the other side of the hallway, Hybrid and Tera reached a position against the stone wall that marked the end of the hallway that was lined with prison cells. Tera looked at her father with a questioning look as she could tell that something was up. Hybrid saw his daughter's look and got right to the point.

"Tera, honey, we need you to use your other half to interrogate Scorpion." Hybrid came right out and said what he needed to, instead of wasting time with pleasantries.

"What? What do you mean, dad?" The young woman looked up at him in surprise and confusion at what he had just told her. She hadn't expected him to say that to her and it caught her completely off guard.

"What I mean is for you to use your symbiote to intimidate him enough and play on his internal fears so that he will be more inclined to answer our questions. We can't plan a course of action against our enemies until we have the information we need." The clarification of his original statement helped a little and Tera's face relaxed slightly back to its normal expression.

"So you want me to use any means necessary, then?" Her voice came out quietly and she was already dreading the answer that she thought was coming. Her father shook his head and put his right hand on her shoulder in a fatherly manner.

"No, not any means. It's important to stay true to yourself and what you believe in. It is true that I'm asking you to do something that is unconventional, and may border on the proverbial dark side but I don't want you to cross over and become worse than the enemies that we are fighting." Sailor Earth gave her father a small smile as his words sunk in. She reached out and placed her left hand over his that was still on her shoulder. Hybrid pulled Tera into a tight hug. He loved his daughter with every fiber of his being and even though he thought this was the only way to get what they needed, it still hurt him emotionally to ask her to do this. He shuddered inside when he thought about having to tell Sailor Jupiter that this was all his idea.

"Ok, dad. I'll do it." She hugged her father harder, tightening her grip around him. When she finally pulled back, her facial expression showed him that she was afraid about what was being asked of her but she was still going to do it. She was going to be brave and she was going to do her duty.

"We all believe in you, honey. We know that you can do it." He leaned in and whispered those words into her ear because he couldn't trust his voice not to break if he spoke louder. "Neo-Queen Serenity has ordered you not to touch the Scorpion at all. Do what you have to but don't break that rule or we will lose any chance we have at gathering this information." Hybrid looked down into his daughter's green eyes. The seriousness of the situation communicated itself from father to daughter and she gave him a curt nod of her head, accepting the expected hindrance to her performance. Hybrid hugged his daughter one last time before walking back to the group, leaving his daughter by the stone wall. Sailor Earth was left alone for a few brief moments so she could plan her approach on her own.

"Guys…" Hybrid's voice pulled the attention of everyone around the cell area to him as he approached them. When King Endyimon and the others inside the cell looked towards him, he tilted his head towards the door of the cell, and everyone inside the cell knew that that they were to exit it.. Once Sailor Venus was the last to leave, Sailor Earth immediately entered so that there was no room for any verbal exchange between Scorpion and anyone else. Sailor Jupiter had drifted over to her husband as King Endyimon and the others left the cell and when she saw her daughter entered the cell alone, she gave him a confused glance.

"What is she doing in there?" There was an undertone that Hybrid didn't exactly recognize but he could tell that she was not happy. He was well aware that as soon as he told her that the reason she was inside that cell on her own was because of him, he was going to be in the basement of the doghouse for a long time once this war was over.

"She's doing what needs to be done so that we can start to plan a counter attack against these invaders. She's our last hope of winning this war." Sailor Jupiter gave him a look that said he was definitely _not_ off the hook and they would conclude this conversation in relative privacy later.

In the cell, everyone's attention was riveted on the stare-down between Scorpion and Sailor Earth. He turned to face his newest visitor and when he saw the tall young brunette, he smiled at her before he started chuckling. His quiet laughter echoed off the walls, making it sound even more menacing than it really was.

"You Sailors must be really desperate if you think that this little child can make me talk when your all-powerful, majestic leader has already failed. What are you going to do, sweetheart? Appeal to my humanity with your little puppy dog eyes?" While he spoke, the Scorpion leaned forward as far as his restraints would allow, trying to intimidate Sailor Earth as much as he could. He was sorely and quickly disappointed because she didn't even flinch as she hardened her gaze on the villain.

"Not exactly…" Her voice was flat, as if he didn't deserve her consideration or respect. Closing her eyes, she focused all the anger and rage from the unprovoked attack on her family, friends and fellow citizens by Scorpion and the people that he served. The emotions that those thoughts brought about were channeled internally to call forth the alien entity that shared her body. From somewhere behind her, long thin strips of dark green flowing, living tissue began to sprout from various points on her back. The dark jade skin contrasted sharply against the bright red of her sailor uniform as it moved over her body's frame. In seconds, the un-Earthly material had covered her from head to toe. Her Sailor gloves were gone and now each fingertip sprouted a razor sharp claw that extended for several inches longer than a human fingernail. Her red boots became human-like feet but each toe now had a talon that stretched out further than where the ends of her boots had been. Four long tentacles were lazily weaving in the air behind her. A pair had sprouted from just under her shoulder blades, and the second pair was just above her hips in the small of her back. She opened her eyes revealing that they were now nothing more than a pair of solid white tear drops. Her nose, ears and hair were now hidden behind the thick alien skin that covered every inch of her. A ghastly hole opened where her mouth had just been on her human body and the proportions of it were all wrong. It opened almost a foot in span. When the long, black, needle-like teeth came sliding up out of her gums, it only made the sight more unsettling. Looking at Sailor Earth now, there wasn't a shred of red or the Sailor uniform in sight. Scorpion blinked hard and rapid. Only a few seconds earlier, there had been a slender young woman in front of him but now there was only a green and black monster that looked like it was ready to tear him to pieces.

The Scorpion's facial expression changed from false bravado to one of fear and nervousness. He began to pull on his restraints, losing the battle to his brain's _fight or flight instinct_. The metal restraints did their job however and he wasn't able to budge them at all. His head switched back and forth from looking at the restraints and the monster that stood a few feet away from him.

"Now will you start answering some questions?" Sailor Earth asked, narrowing her large unblinking eyes. That gesture only made her look even more menacing. The sweet and feminine voice that she possessed was gone and was replaced by a rough, raspy sound that was as alien as how she looked now. The Scorpion straightened up as much as his restraints would allow and did his best to regain his composure. He puffed out his chest and squared his jaw. He was stronger, faster, more agile, and more durable than any human. If Norman Osborn was to be believed, he was even more powerful than the Sailor guardians as well. That meant that he should have nothing to fear from this woman, no matter what she looked like now.

"Big deal! So you can change your clothes in a flash. I've seen your kind before, so if you think that you can scare me with your 'monster face' and your little waving tentacles, then you've failed." He barked out his words so no one would be able to judge his emotions or thought process. He was unsuccessful in that regard as Sailor Earth was able to pick up on the subtle breaks in his words which was one of the clear telltale signs that he was lying. Intending to capitalize on this latest development, Sailor Earth took a slow, deliberate step forward.

"Oh…you must be referring to that cheap, black synthetic creature that your boss created?" The mocking tone in her voice was there for everyone to hear. She took another step closer to him and she saw the instinctive twitch of his muscles under his green body suit in response. He was reflexively gearing up for a fight. "_That_ was not a real symbiote." Sailor Earth held up her right hand, letting Scorpion see the swirling and flowing alien skin of her arm up close. His eyes grew larger and that flash of fear that she'd seen ever since her transformation, intensified.

Sailor Earth leaned in close to Scorpion and outside of the cell, Neo-Queen Serenity who had rejoined the group after seeing Sailor Earth enters the cell, tensed a little. She silently hoped that her young guardian would remember the rules that her father had relayed to her. Inside the cell, Sailor Earth lowered her arm and eased her posture, resting her body weight on the balls of her feet. "A smart man like you must have heard of the red symbiote 'Carnage' right?" Her voice was quiet and deadly, but it noticeable rose in volume and intensity when she said the name of her father's former identity. The Scorpion's physical reaction to her words confirmed that he did indeed know about him.

In his former life before the Great Sleep, the Scorpion had been an unsuccessful private investigator and part time investigative reporter. Once the Earth's population had been reawakened following the environmental calamity that had plunged it into the lifesaving hibernation, professions like his had been rendered obsolete by the Crystal Kingdom that had emerged from the ashes to guide the new order of things. Even though he had been forced to seek a new way of living, he still retained that internal sense of curiosity and a desire to know the truth of things, even after he'd joined up with Norman Osborn.

He had heard about the incident in Crystal Tokyo involving the red symbiote known as Carnage and had researched it extensively once Neo-Queen Serenity had released the details of it to the public. When Norman Osborn had captured Hybrid and the original sailor guardians, he had mentioned the red symbiote in passing. This had caused the Scorpion to revisit the old archives regarding the matter during his downtime. Now, he intimately knew everything there was to know about the red symbiote 'Carnage' and the atrocities that he had committed.

Sailor Earth saw that he recognized her father's other identity and pressed her advantage. She leaned in so that her head was right over his shoulder, making it easy to whisper directly into his ear that covered by his light green mask. Behind her, Neo-Queen Serenity was shifting her weight back and forth from one leg to the other. It was a sign of her growing uneasiness about the situation that she was now being forced to bear witness to. Several of the other sailors were mirroring her reaction.

"You must know what he did then. The number of people that he murdered and how much chaos he created. Here's a fun fact for you, Scorpion. He is my father. That means that anything he can do, I can do better. Furthermore, when your former boss unleashed him against us, _I_ was the one to beat him." The words from her mouth were said in a low decibel, forcing him to pay attention if he wanted to hear her. She said each word slowly and deliberately, making sure that he didn't miss anything. Her symbiote could smell the nervousness radiating off the Scorpion's body. "So, if I can defeat such a powerful enemy all by myself, what do you think I could do to you if you don't start talking?" To emphasize her point, she leaned away from him and morphed her right hand into a dangerous looking spike.

"You can't hurt me! You're a sailor, and your queen wouldn't let you hurt me. You have rules to obey." His words came out, but there was fear clear in each of them and not much conviction behind them. The Scorpion was calling her bluff, and Tera's next move was going to be critical. If she backed down now, the Scorpion would close up again and would then be impervious to any other forms of interrogation. Neo-Queen Serenity and the other guardians anxiously watched for what was going to happen next.

Sailor Earth had pushed things to the point where she had to do something drastic or lose control of the interrogation entirely. Sailor Earth was silent as she was thinking about how she could break the Scorpion. She could tell from the stench of nervousness that was coming off him that all he needed was one more good push. She had an idea, but she was a little hesitant to follow through with it. The idea would bring up a lot of ugly history for her friends and family that they would rather leave in the past. From underneath the alien skin, she flicked her human eyes over to her parents, watching them for a few seconds. She remembered her father's words to her and she knew that she had to play on his fears.

"My father gained access to the Crystal Palace and almost single-handedly, defeated all of the sailor guardians that he came in contact with. He even almost managed to assassinate Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon in their own throne room, all of that in only a matter of minutes." She paused for effect, letting the magnitude of those actions sink into the Scorpion's mind. "He almost brutally murdered each and every one of them, including me, while I was still in my mother's womb. That kind of darkness can be easily passed from father to child. And in some cases, the child can even be more evil than the parent."

The Scorpion's mind recalled all the research that he had done on that topic, instantly knowing that she was right in everything that she had said. When he was a reporter, he had covered several stories about children of violent criminal growing up to be equally or even more violent and dangerous than their parents. A bead of sweat rolled down from his forehead and became visible in the eyehole of his mask. Sailor Earth morphed her spiked hand into a double-bladed axe. She let the Scorpion take in that sight before dozens of arrowheads and poisonous barbs broke out over every other square inch of her body. The Scorpion noticed them and the reality that every single one of them was pointed at him. "It could be true that the sailor guardians and my father and aunt might be able to eventually overpower me should I choose to hurt you, but I'm sure that you would agree that I can cause you excruciating pain before even one of them makes it into this cell." To get her point across, she dropped her body into an attack pose.

"You're lying!" The Scorpion tried to sound confident, but the hesitant manner of his voice belied him and the Sailor Soldiers could hear a few stutters in his sentence.

"Then let's find out!" Sailor Earth's voice reverberated off the walls of the cell as she lunged forward and simultaneously morphed her bladed arm into a pointed lance.

"Tera…NO!" Neo-Queen Serenity screamed as she watched the green creature spring forward. The other sailor guardians leapt into action as well, determined to get into the cell before the cold blooded murder of the Scorpion came to pass.

"ALRIGHT, I'LL TALK!" The Scorpion's scream came a fraction of a second after Neo-Queen Serenity's. Sailor Earth's attack immediately shifted so that the lance struck the wall behind him, inches from his head. She immediately pulled her arm back and took a few steps towards the door of the cell. Sailor Venus and Sailor Uranus were the first to enter the cell. They quickly put themselves between Sailor Earth and Scorpion. "I'll tell you anything that you want to know! Just keep that thing away from me!" Scorpion's voice wailed as he watched the rest of the sailors file into the cell, interjecting themselves between the green monster and the prisoner. From outside the cell, both Sailor Jupiter and Neo-Queen Serenity turned to look at Hybrid. He felt their collective gaze but could only look at them in return. He knew why they were looking at him. This had been his idea and it had very nearly gone bad. Hybrid maintained his faith in his daughter and that she knew what she was doing.

"She did it. She was successful and she didn't resort to physical violence. We can now learn what we came here to know." It was the only defense that he had even though he knew that it was a very thin one at that. Both Sailor Jupiter and Neo-Queen Serenity remained silent. They knew that they couldn't argue with what he had said but the methods were still questionable to both of them. The look on Sailor Jupiter's face reminded him that there was going to be a private conversation between the two of them regarding his idea once they got home. Hybrid looked back into the interior of the cell, knowing that he was going to be mistrusted by his queen and his wife for a while, but taking comfort in knowing that he'd been right all along. Unfortunately, right now was not the time to argue his case. He was so fiercely proud of his daughter, and he couldn't wait to tell her.

End of Chapter 9


	11. The Power of Knowledge

Chapter 10 – The Power of Knowledge

Inside one of the spaceships belonging to the forces of the Black Moon, Rubeus was pacing angrily back and forth in a room that was completely bare except for a ring of large antique mirrors that each stood a little taller than him. Each one was slightly different and had ornate, gilded frames to them.

Rubeus walked back and forth with his arms crossed over his lower back. His jaws clenched tightly together and in the almost silence of the room, the grinding of his teeth could be periodically heard. His anger was radiating off of him in waves, preventing him from being aware of anything else around him. When a voice spoke to him from somewhere inside the room, he literally jumped. He'd been so lost in thought that he was startled by the unexpected voice.

"Rubeus! Have you been able to penetrate the shield surrounding the Crystal Palace yet?" The voice echoed around the room, seemingly filling every empty space and coming from every corner of the room all at once. Rubeus had been looking towards one of the mirrors when the voice suddenly sounded, and he instinctively whirled his body around to look at the large open space in the center of the room that the mirrors encircled. He knew the owner of the voice, and it certainly did _not_ improve his current mood. As his crimson eyes focused on the center of the open space behind him, the form of Wiseman rose up from the floor and hovered a few feet above it. In what was typical for him, his hands continually flowed around the crystal ball in his lap that he was never without.

"Wiseman!" The name came out like an expletive, with no hint of respect in his tone at all. "If you're as smart as everyone seems to think you are, then you'll know that we can't. The queen is secured inside the castle and we need her in order to get the shield down. Seeing as we can't get to her unless the shield is down, we seemed to have reached a stalemate." He made no effort to hide the sarcasm in his voice, and even crossed his arms over his chest to show the Wiseman that he really wasn't in the mood for a chat. His hands were forming white knuckled fists tightly against his chest, and he pushed them harder into his sternum to stop them from shaking in frustration.

"If you can't get to them, make them come to you." Even though Rubeus had made it clear that he didn't fancy being around Wiseman right now, the hooded old man ignored the young lieutenant's disrespect and kept his voice calm and steady. The old man's words immediately sank in, and Rubeus' face changed into an expression of confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" Wiseman's words had touched his curiosity and given his current situation, he was willing to listen to his idea. However, he didn't want mysterious mystic to know that he was willing to take advice because he was desperate to get back in Prince Diamond's graces following the capture of Scorpion under his watch.

"The queen serves the people of this planet. Put those people in danger and she will not be able to remain hidden any longer. She will expose herself, and that will be your chance to capture her." Rubeus was silent for a few minutes as he pondered Wiseman's idea. Unfortunately, he knew that Wiseman was right. The queen's love and compassion for the people of Earth was well known and going to be her undoing in the end. Rubeus silently berated himself for not realizing that sooner.

"I will instruct the Spectre Sisters and the Rhino to go down to the city and personally cause unrest and chaos to draw out Neo-Queen Serenity. At the same time, I will use the ship's cannons to further demolish this symbol of sickening prosperity." As he spoke, Rubeus turned his body away from Wiseman and stared out the large window at the sprawling city that lay below him. Wiseman said nothing, and Rubeus took that to mean that he was in agreement with Rubeus' plan, or at least, he had no more advice to give. Wiseman hovered in silence for a few more minutes before silently sinking back down through the floor the way the same way he'd arrived, leaving Rubeus alone once more.

"Who is the leader of the Black Moon?" Neo-Queen Serenity posed the first question of the interrogation, and now she silently stared at Scorpion as she waited for his answer. After Tera had gone into the cell and scared the villainous Scorpion out of his mind with her symbiotic form, she'd left the cell to be replaced by Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endyimon, and Sailor Mercury. Now that the official interrogation was finally beginning, everyone inside and outside the cell were absolutely silent. The drop of a pin could have echoed for days in the atmosphere that was stirring so slowly that not even loose strands of the Sailors' hair would have moved in the breeze. The other Sailors, Magik, and Hybrid were riveted to the activity that was happening in the cell. The Scorpion took his time to collect his thoughts, letting the silence stretch on for longer than the queen wanted it to.

"Prince Diamond is in charge. His brother, Sapphire, is his second in command." The words had a grudging tone to them, as if the Scorpion still didn't want to willingly offer up the information. The two names that he had uttered touched something in Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endyimon, and the Inner Sailors. They had seen Prince Diamond during the initial attack, but the name of Sapphire further chilled them, making ice flow through their veins and goose bumps sprout up on their arms. They had encountered both of those people, not once, but twice. Once during the attack on old Tokyo after they had defeated the Doom Tree and the second time was when the evil shaman Apsu had manipulated the time stream which caused many of their previously defeated enemies to come back…including Prince Diamond and Sapphire. They began to wonder if the other members of the Black Moon that they had already defeated would be back as well.

"Who else is working closely with Prince Diamond?" Neo-Queen Serenity's voice chilled the air further between herself and the Scorpion as she pressed on with her questioning. She knew what the consequences of fighting the Black Moon and their forces might entail, and she was far from happy about it. Her question was one of the ones that burned away at her gentle heart. She had to know what her people would be up against when they launched their counter offensive. She was wise enough to know that in this case, knowledge was power and the more they knew, the better they could strategize. The idea of letting her guardians fight blind or be killed because of some unseen enemy made her want to run away from everyone and be sick in a hidden corner somewhere.

The Scorpion hesitated again before answering, as if he was still struggling with himself about giving the information. The Scorpion's face contorted with anger at some personal thought inside his brain before he spat the information out like a poison that he was sucking from the wound of a loved one.

"Some young upstart, snot nosed kid named Rubeus and the green haired harlot named Emerald are his top henchmen. They carry out every mission and operation that the prince wants done. Probably both kiss his feet, too. Spineless kiss asses." Again, a sharp pang resonated in the hearts of the Royal Couple and the Inner Sailors. It seemed like their past was bound and determined to repeat itself again. Before Neo-Queen Serenity could ask another question, the Scorpion cut her off, continuing on with his response. "Below them, are the four Spectre Sisters: Koan, Birdie, Petz, and Avery. Those scrawny brats are a couple of real pieces of work, let me tell you. They're always worried about their clothes or their hair, and they get into so many petty fights and arguments that it's a wonder that they can even get any of the prince's wishes done. It's insulting that I, one of the original founders of Nemesis, have to work with such…_children_!" The Scorpion was indeed very angry with the alliances that had been made in order to bring this attack plan into action. The pure venom with which he spat out the last word made everyone recoil from him involuntarily. Even though the malice that she felt was radiating off of him in waves, Neo-Queen Serenity pressed on with the interrogation, before he said something that angered him enough to make him shut down or distract the flow of questions she still had for him and cause valuable time to be wasted. If that happened, not even the promise of Tera's other form reappearing was going to be enough to get him to talk willingly again.

"You just said that you were one of the original settlers of Nemesis. Is that the name that you call the Black Moon, presumably?" Although he didn't answer her verbally, the look in his eyes was confirmation enough for her. "Who else settled Nemesis with you?" There was a sense of urgency in Neo-Queen Serenity's voice that even the queen herself couldn't explain. The queen now knew more about whom they were facing, but it still didn't make sense for them to have such a formidable army available to them given the time span that had passed from their last encounter with the Scorpion to this point in time. She needed to know more about the history of the Black Moon in order to find out how to defeat these new foes that she and her Sailor Soldiers had never encountered before. The Scorpion perked up a little, and there was a little more life in his voice than when he'd answered her question.

"Dr. Octavius, Vulture, Rhino, and myself. We landed there to escape being captured by you and your little minions. Fat lot of good _that_ did me in the end…" He trailed off and lost all signs of animation as he answered. He rolled his eyes and looked away from his captors after he finished. There was even a hint of embarrassment in his voice, showing that he'd just come to realize that he had ended up exactly where he'd thought and hoped that he would never be. The Royal Couple and the Sailors were a little surprised to hear the names of the others that had gone with him, even though they shouldn't have been. After all, it was only logical to assume that the other villains in that quartet would have survived this long if the Scorpion had. It had been a mystery to all of them as to what had happened to Doctor Octopus and the rest of the Sinister Seven after they'd escaped the Oscorp building during the fall of Norman Osborn's criminal empire. The mystery was finally solved it would seem but whether the information laid anyone's mind at ease remained to be seen.

"And where are they now? Dr. Octavius and the others?" Neo-Queen Serenity refused to let her voice or tone reflect her feelings, and she stood in front of the villain with a completely blank expression in the hopes of making him wonder how this information that he was giving them would be received. Whether she was afraid to see them again or simply inquiring as to their whereabouts in order to decide if they should also expect an appearance from them, the Scorpion couldn't tell and that was the point. The queen of Earth would not give him any latitude to twist his responses for his own personal interests or amusement. Everyone remained silent and more than one noticed that even though the Scorpion had paused before every answer he'd given, this latest one seemed to stretch on into eternity before he finally responded.

"Vulture is dead. He died a few years ago. He managed to complete the flying devices for our spaceships and made it so they could defy gravity before his useless old body finally gave up on him. He looked like an empty husk, a mere shadow of his former self in those last days before he died. Dr. Octavius is still around, but he's almost as old as the Vulture was before he died. Prince Diamond thought that he'd be useless in a fight, so he kept him back on Nemesis so that he can continue increasing its technological power. I can't say that I disagree with the prince on that one. Sapphire was the doc's protégé or something. He was always glued to his hip, scribbling things down in his notebook. It was disgusting really. The doc taught that squirt everything he knew, and now the student is the chief technological powerhouse of everything on Nemesis." Sailor Mercury took a step forward, so that she was even with Neo-Queen Serenity now.

"Was Dr. Octavius responsible for the technology we've seen during this attack?" The question seemed to startle the Scorpion, and he shot a wary glance at the wise sailor guardian. The Scorpion remained silent, and turned his full attention to the new speaker. He sized her up, from the top of her white sailor boots to the tips of her short blue hair. Though she didn't show it, Sailor Mercury could feel her skin crawl as she was appraised by someone so vile and disgusting.

"Yeah. The doc did most of the work. He was at least smart enough to take all of Osborn's best stuff when we escaped from you all the last time. When we landed on Nemesis, he was able to use that stuff to set up our new home and then expand it from the stolen or acquired technology we got from the portal dwellers."

"Portal dwellers?" Neo-Queen Serenity asked slowly. She was afraid that she already knew what he was referring to, but it was always better to have confirmation. There was always that very tiny chance that she was wrong.

"Did I stutter, sweetheart? Turns out Osborn had created a machine that could open up doors to other worlds. His name still carried a decent amount of weight in some of them, which allowed us to acquire several new toys. Whatever we couldn't get easily, we just took by force." The Scorpion paused again and smiled, thinking back to his former glory days. Those were days where he was proud of who he was and what he was fighting for. Days like today just reminded him of the other side of that coin. Capture, and in some cases, torture were the two biggest un-pleasantries that came with being a hired mercenary. He smiled to himself again, looking up at the ceiling of the cell, and leaning against the wall as he reminisced about past memories. It was easy to see for all of the Sailors, the Royal Couple, and Hybrid and Magik as well, that he was actually _proud_ of the things he'd done and all the people that he'd hurt to get him to where he was today. It sickened them all, each to a different degree. Although Neo-Queen Serenity and the others could feel their blood run cold as they stood listening to the old villain's words, it was Magik that was most affected by it.

She stood completely frozen between her brother and Sailor Mars. She knew better than anyone the dangers and horrors that lurked in the worlds that existed side by side with theirs. She'd spent eight years trapped in one, experiencing pain and suffering that would have driven anyone else to insanity or worse. Not that she was bragging by any means, but that was something that she was proud of herself for surviving. After she'd finally managed to escape her captor, Shang Tsung, he had tried to bring her back, but was defeated once and for all by her brother Hybrid and the Sailors. There was a small part of her that wondered if she'd ever encountered Osborn at some point during her stay in Negonall, and then there was another small part of her that warned her that she might not want to know the answer if she could ever find out.

Sailor Mercury stood by silently, pondering over all of the information that the Scorpion had given them thus far. In her over analytical brain, pieces were beginning to come together, and she shuddered at the picture they were beginning to form. She didn't like it at all, and she knew the others wouldn't either. The Scorpion interrupted her thoughts with a thinly veiled threat.

"This shield that you're hiding behind won't last forever, you know. Soon, Prince Diamond will break through it and this planet will be ours for the taking." He snarled smugly at the large group that was watching him, but they hardly heard a word he'd said because they were each lost in their own contemplations about the tidbits of information that he'd given them thus far.

"Shield? What shield? You must be turning into a senile old man. We don't know what you're talking about." Sailor Jupiter barked her insult as she griped the bars of the cell tightly with her hands. A brief pause followed as the Scorpion and Sailor Jupiter stared each other down with glares that could burn through metal. In the middle of that, Sailor Mercury licked her dry lips and quietly cleared her throat. All the attention in the room was now focused on her once again.

"I installed an energy shield around the Palace as a preventative measure, and as part of my upgrades to the Crystal Palace's security." She paused for a moment or two, hating the Scorpion for giving them that piece of information, and hating herself as she tried to weigh the pros and cons of whether or not she should tell them the rest. It wasn't necessarily important in the current situation that they were in, but she felt that her friends and most importantly, her queen, had a need to know.

She took a deep breath, ready to accept whatever came her way after she revealed this next part. "The shield is based on the technology of the Death Busters, and the daimon energy that they harvested during our final battle with them to prevent our entrance into the Mugen Academy. I found the device while we were searching the ruins for Sailor Moon. I worked on it little by little over the next few years, finally getting it to use the residual power that the Silver Moon Crystal gives off as opposed to the dark power of the Tau Nebula that the Death Busters used." She paused and took a second to scan the eyes of everyone around her. The looks she received in return ranged from surprise to suspicion. However, no one physically protested or verbally opposed this revelation, because they knew that the shield had kept them safe for this long…so far. The Scorpion broke the rigid silence.

"Doesn't matter where the damned thing came from. Prince Diamond will either break through it, or draw you all out and kill you one by one if he has too. Probably in front of each other, if I know my prince well enough."

As if on cue, the heavy metal door that marked the entrance to the detention area sounded, cutting off any retort that could have been flung his way. It was followed by the unmistakable sound of running footsteps as someone came pelting down the hallway towards them. Seconds later, one of the royal guards rounded the corner and came to a skittering halt in front of them all. He quickly snapped a salute in Neo-Queen Serenity's direction, and she inclined her head in acknowledgement.

"My queen! One of the spaceships has resumed its bombardment of the city." He had to stop to catch his breath before he could say any more, and everyone within earshot was anxiously awaiting the rest of the news. "Citizens are dying, or getting trapped in the ensuing chaos!" The guard spoke rapidly, using his stored breath to get as many words out as possible. His breathing was panicked and ragged, and now Neo-Queen Serenity tightly clenched her hands into fists. Hybrid and Sailor Jupiter immediately sprang into action, racing past the guard and calling back over their shoulders for the other Sailors to follow them. No one waited for the queen's response. This was their job, and they were going to do the best they could.

"Wait, Sailor Moon!" Sailor Mercury's shout caused the pink haired girl to skid to a sudden stop and turn around in confusion. The others didn't bother to wait for her, or to ask Sailor Mercury why she wasn't coming with them either. In the blink of an eye, they were all gone. The metal door slamming closed with a loud thud that echoed back to the cell where the Royal Couple and two guardians remained.

"What is it, Mercury? We have to go with the others and save our city!" The young Sailor was vehement in her exclamation. Her sense of urgency and desperation amped up a little more as images flashed through her head of what she knew must be happening to the poor citizens that were outside and unprotected from the Black Moon's assault.

"I need you for a different task, Sailor Moon. Its success could mean the difference between victory and total annihilation of the Crystal Kingdom." Sailor Mercury's voice was utterly serious, and yet, laced with concern for the young girl. Sailor Moon turned her body around to look directly at Sailor Mercury. She relaxed her body which told the older guardian that she was giving her full attention to her.


End file.
